The Sound of Silence
by Indian Black Star
Summary: Kakashi rescued an unconscious young woman and brought her back to Konoha. This beautiful lady soon became a new sensation across Konoha, despite her muteness and her mysterious past. What would people in Konoha eventually find out about her?
1. The parrot, the spider and the girl

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

Chapter 1: The parrot, the spider and the girl

"It has been a great day so far." The silver-haired shinobi thought to himself as he leisurely strode along the mountain ridge outside of Konoha.

Hatake Kakashi was a Jounin from the Hidden Village of Konoha. Jounin was the highest rank a shinobi could achieve. Thus, not surprisingly, these elite ninjas often had to take on the most difficult and dangerous of all missions. At the moment, Kakashi just completed an S-rank mission in a small neighboring country. During the mission, he identified and captured a spy that had infiltrated the feudal lord's residence. Kakashi finished the mission rather effortlessly, if he might say so himself. In fact, he completed the mission one day early, so he decided to take his time to travel back to Konoha. After all, being a busy Jounin who was always on call for missions, Kakashi rarely had the opportunity to enjoy some quiet time by himself.

The afternoon sun made Kakashi feel warm and fuzzy. He looked up at the clear blue sky, and saw a few fluffy white clouds floating here and there. Shikamaru-kun would have enjoyed watching these clouds, Kakashi thought idly as he let his mind drift off. Suddenly, a loud sound of rapid flapping brought him back to the present.

Kakashi quickly turned towards the direction of the sound – it seemed to be coming from the bottom of the cliff. What could it be? Kakashi wondered, as he drew a kunai into his hand. Suddenly a white shadow rose from the bottom of the cliff and zoomed past Kakashi. However, when it noticed the masked shinobi, it quickly turned around and stopped on a nearby tree branch.

Standing in front of Kakashi was an unbelievably beautiful white parrot, with feathers as pure as fresh snow, and eyes shiny as black onyx.

"Kind shinobi-sama, my master is in great danger, would you kindly offer your help?" The white parrot said politely but urgently.

Kakashi quickly realized that the talking parrot was a ninja animal, much like his own nindog Pakkun, rather than a silly bird that had picked up a few human words.

"Who is your master? What kind of danger is he in?" Kakashi asked.

"My master has been caught by a giant spider monster at the bottom of the cliff. I don't have time to explain. You will understand when you see it. I don't know how much longer my master can last, she is running out of her chakra. Please, kind shinobi-sama, would you please follow me?" The parrot pleaded.

Kakashi tried to assess the current situation. Could this be a trap? Was an enemy waiting for him at the bottom of the cliff? What if someone really was in danger? Ever since his friend Uchiha Obito's death, Kakashi could not bear to see innocent lives lost in front of his eyes anymore. Even if it was a trap, he could handle it. He just needed to be careful. He was the famous Copy Ninja Kakashi after all, someone who had made his name into the Bingo Book.

"Lead the way." Kakashi told the parrot simply. He gathered chakra on his feet so that he could run down the cliff as if he were running on flat land. The cliff was steep and deep. Kakashi wondered how anyone would end up at the bottom of it. Did the parrot's master fall? Perhaps it really was a trap.

Suddenly Kakashi froze and came to a screeching halt. In front of him was an enormous black spider standing on a web that spanned across the width of the entire cliff. The spider was the same size as Jiraiya-sama's big toad boss Gamabunta. A woman was lying in the middle of the spider web. Half of her body was wrapped up in the spider's sticky threads.

"Haruka!" The white parrot shrieked. It tried to fly near the woman but the spider shot a thick strand of thread at it, forcing it to change direction.

The woman did not react to the parrot. She seemed to have lost her consciousness. Kakashi hoped that she was still alive.

Kakashi threw a couple kunais at the spider to test its response. The spider simply let the kunais bounce off its hard shell, without even bothering to dodge them. Kakashi decided that normal ninja weapons and taijutsu would not have much effect on this monster. Ninjutsu would be the only way to defeat it.

"Kind shinobi-sama, please be careful with the spider threads. They are extremely sticky. My master got caught by merely one strand and has been stuck since then." The parrot warned Kakashi, who nodded in response.

This parrot was probably the most conscientious and courteous of all ninja animals he had seen, Kakashi secretly thought. He wondered if this reflected on its owner's personality.

Meanwhile, the spider monster attacked Kakashi with another strand of sticky thread. This time, instead of dodging it, Kakashi performed the dragon fire jutsu and breathed fire at the incoming thread. He was very pleased to see that the spider thread was not fire proof – it caught on fire and dissolved immediately.

Now the great Copy Ninja Kakashi had a plan in mind.

"Please distract the spider for a moment." He told the parrot. The beautiful white bird immediately started flying around the spider at high speed to capture its attention.

Kakashi then reached into the pouch around his waist and fished out two long pieces of wire. He first tied one around his ankle and hung himself upside down from a tree above the woman. Then he threw the other piece of wire at the woman. With the help of the weighted hook at the end of the wire and a little bit of skill, Kakashi was able to wrap the wire securely around the woman's body.

"Lead the spider away from your master." Kakashi was pleased to see that the parrot followed the order precisely -- the bird was well trained for the battlefield.

Kakashi gathered a large amount of chakra in his mouth. He had to succeed in one go, otherwise he would put himself and the woman in danger.

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" While the spider monster was distracted by the parrot, Kakashi yelled and used the fire to draw a ring on the spider web around the woman. The web around the woman dissolved quickly. With a quick jerk of his strong wrist, Kakashi caught the woman's body in his arm. Then he swung his body away from the tree towards the cliff. He cut the string when he felt solid ground underneath his feet, and he started running up the cliff quickly. He knew a giant monster like that would be slow in speed and could not keep up with him. His goal was to rescue the woman. He did not really care about killing the monster.

"Retreat!" He told the parrot. Both of them quickly ascended the cliff, leaving the angry monster behind, shooting threads of sticky silk into the air to no avail.

Soon Kakashi was back on the ridge again. He gently laid the woman down on the ground, and put his finger in front of her nose to check her breathing. She was alive and breathing alright, but her breaths were short and rapid.

"Your master needs immediate medical attention." Kakashi said. "We are not far away from Konoha, so we'll take her there. We have great medic nins in Konoha."

"That will be perfect, shinobi-sama. We are on our way to Konoha as well."

Kakashi raised his head and smiled kindly at the parrot, "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I'm a Jonin from Konoha. Please don't call me shinobi-sama. What is your name?"

"My name is Kazahana, Kakashi-sama."

"Ah, Kazahana, the snowflake. It is the perfect name for you." Kakashi said as he picked up the woman in his arms. "OK, let's get going now so that we can reach Konoha as soon as possible."

"Yes, Kakashi-sama." Said the parrot, and the party of three began their journey towards the Hidden Village of Konoha.


	2. The girl with a mysterious past

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

Chapter 2: The girl with a mysterious past

Tsunade the Fifth Hokage was sitting in her office. There were heaps and heaps of documents in front of her, waiting for her attention, but all she really wanted right now was a cup of warm sake. She was about to pull a Shikamaru and complained about how mendokuse (troublesome) it was to be a Hokage, but she refrained herself as she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." Said the Hokage.

In came the silver-haired shinobi with a woman in his arms and a white parrot on his shoulder.

A deep frown formed on Tsunade's face – what was Kakashi up to? Before she could say anything, the white parrot flew towards her and said sweetly, "Tsunade-sama!"

"You are... Kazahana!" Tsunade exclaimed as she recognized the talking bird. She abruptly turned her head towards the limp body in Kakashi's arms. "And that must be Haruka-chan! Kakashi, what exactly happened? Why is she unconscious?"

Kakashi briefly told the Hokage what happened. He asked curiously, "Do you know this woman, Tsunade-sama?"

"I'll explain to you later. Let me take a look at her first." Tsunade had Kakashi put Haruka down on the couch. First Tsunade checked the unconscious girl's pulse and breathing. Then she looked under her eyelids, and then her hands and fingernails.

With a frown on her forehead, Tsunade said, "The spider web must have been coated with the spider's venom. Haruka took in some toxin through the cuts on her hands, that's why she is unconscious." She paused to think for a while, then she speculated aloud, "Sasaki-sensei used to have a special antidote against spider venom, and that would have been the perfect way to treat Haruka. Now I'll have to extract the toxin from her body with my chakra, but this approach is not as thorough as the antidote..."

"Sorry to interrupt your thoughts, Tsunade-sama." The parrot said suddenly.

"Oh? Kazahana, what is it?" Tsunade was surprised to be interrupted by the courteous parrot.

"Tsunade-sama, Haruka carries a lot of medicines and antidotes with her. Perhaps she has the antidote you want in her bag?" Kazahana said helpfully.

Kakashi handed Haruka's bag to Tsunade, who immediately started rummaging through its contents. She let out a small cheer when she found a box packed full with numerous small glass bottles. With a glint of hope in her eyes, Tsunade picked up every single one of the bottles and examined them closely, sometimes even opening the bottles to smell them. Finally, she held up a bottle containing an almost fluorescent green fluid with a triumphant smile.

"This is it!" She exclaimed. She parted Haruka's lips with her fingers, and carefully poured a few drops of the green fluid into her mouth. Within minutes, Haruka's short and rapid breath was already returning to normal. "And her face is no longer as pale as before!" Tsunade said in disbelief. "This antidote seems to work even better than I remember."

"Tsunade-sama, Haruka has been spending a lot of time improving and optimizing Sasaki-sensei's medicines." Kazahana explained. The two of them soon engaged in a conversation about medicines and Haruka's medical research.

"Sounds like this Haruka girl is some sort of a medic nin, and Tsunade-sama knows her through a certain Sasaki-sensei." Kakashi thought to himself. He suddenly realized that since he had been so busy rescuing and transporting Haruka, he had yet to take a good look at her.

Kakashi's single unmasked eye fell on the sleeping girl. The first thing that caught his attention was her long and silky black hair that dropped like a waterfall down to her waist, covering part of her delicate face in her sleeping position. Her smooth skin glowed softly in the dimly lit office. Her eyes were shut tight, but her long eyelashes fluttered occasionally like the wings of a butterfly. Her nose was small and graceful, which looked perfect on her oval face. Her thin lips were slightly parted, as if words would pour out from them at any moment. She looked quite young, probably around twenty-two or twenty-three. Her body was slender but toned, especially those legs that were exposed between her short black skirt and her knee-high brown leather boots.

In other words, she was a very, very beautiful woman.

Kakashi suddenly blushed. He might appear cool and carefree, but sometimes he could get quite shy around pretty girls. In order to hide his embarrassment, he pretended to ask casually, "Tsunade-sama, how did you meet Haruka?"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed as she let her mind drift off to the distant past.

"Kakashi, as you know, I was trained to be a ninja under the Third Hokage together with Jiraiya and Orochimaru. Sarutobi-sensei was a great shinobi and a great teacher, but he was not a medic nin. The man who taught me all my medical skills was an exceptionally talented medic nin called Sasaki-sensei."

Tsunade smiled warmly as she conjured up images of the petite and gentle old man Sasaki. "Sasaki-sensei was the founder of Konoha Hospital. He was considered to be one of the greatest medic nins in Konoha's history of medicine. He was an extremely hard working man. Everyday he busied himself in managing the hospital, treating patients, training apprentices, and performing medical research. Finally, at his old age, after his last student graduated, he decided to retire and lived a quiet life by himself in the forest outside of Konoha."

"Sensei spent most of his time living alone like a hermit, making only occasional trips to the village for food and other necessities. However, one day a mysterious little girl appeared in front of his house. She was hungry and dirty, and her body was covered with numerous cuts and scrapes. Sensei took her in, fed her and treated her wounds. He tried to find out who she was, where she was from, but the girl was a mute, and she refused to communicate in any way. She seemed to be in a state of shock. She was constantly trembling, and she could not sleep at night. It was no doubt that if Sasaki-sensei let her go, she would just perish in the forest, so sensei decided to keep her with him. He gave her a name and took care of her. Eventually the little girl recovered, and became the youngest apprentice of Sasaki-sensei. That was Haruka."

The Hokage looked at the sleeping girl adoringly. "Last time I saw Haruka she was still a little girl, but sensei told me that her medical ability had already surpassed mine when I was her age. Sensei taught her everything he knew until he passed away a few years ago. In his last letter to me, he told me that Haruka had grown into a kind and beautiful woman, and an exceptional medic nin." Tsunade looked at the flawless face of the sleeping beauty. "Looks like sensei didn't lie about that."

"Ah, I see. Is she here to visit you then, Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi asked.

"She is here because I invited her to come and research on Nara clan's vast collection of ancient medical methods. Remember how Chouji took the three-colored pills during his fight against Jirobo of the Sound Four, and he almost died from the destructive side effects? I was able to save him thank to an antidote recipe from the Nara clan collection. I realized at that time that someone needs to patiently go through and study the Nara clan's collection, so that the information will be readily available next time we need it." Tsunade paused for a moment. "Plus, it has been a few years since Sasaki-sensei passed away. It's not good for a young woman like her to live by herself in the forest. She should come out and see the world."

Suddenly Kazahana exclaimed, "Haruka! She's moving!" The white parrot flew to its owner and nibbled on her ear affectionately.

Haruka slowly opened her eyes. She looked at her surroundings in disbelief – she was still fighting the big and ugly spider monster right before she lost her consciousness.

--_Where am I?_-- Haruka gestured with her hands.

Both Kazahana and Tsunade understood her hand gestures. Kazahana quickly said, "Haruka, we're safe now. This kind shinobi-sama here saved us from the spider monster and took us to Konoha. We're in Tsunade-sama's office right now."

Tsunade smiled at Haruka. "Haruka-chan, long time no see. You have grown a lot since last time I saw you, I almost did not recognize you."

Haruka smiled sweetly at Tsunade. Then she dropped down to her knees and bowed elegantly to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sama, Haruka is thanking you for saving her life." Kazahana explained.

Kakashi quickly lifted her up from her knees. "Please get up, Haruka-san. There is no need to do that. I'm a shinobi and it is my duty to protect everyone from the village. I am Hatake Kakashi by the way."

Haruka gave him a beautiful smile. Kakashi could feel his face reddening under his mask again.

"Speaking of which, Haruka." Tsunade interrupted. "How did you end up on that spider's web? What were you doing at the bottom of the cliff?"

To answer her question, Haruka opened her bag, grabbed something into her hand and showed Tsunade. Lying in her palm was a bundle of strange looking plants. They were covered with tiny yellow flowers, and they emitted a pungent smell.

"It's the Spider Grass!" Tsunade opened her eyes widely in surprise. "The Spider Grass is a major ingredient in many medical recipes. They make very powerful medicine but they are extremely difficult to find. They only grow near where a certain species of spider lives, hence the name."

Looking at Haruka's witty little smile, Tsunade suddenly understood. "I see. There must be a lot of Spider Grass growing near the spider monster, that was why your risked your life to collect them, and ended up getting caught by the spider."

Tsunade looked at Haruka in disbelief. "You silly girl, risking your own safety for something like that, but that was exactly what Sasaki-sensei would have done too." She stared into Haruka's large doe-like eyes, and she felt like she saw the soul of her old sensei living within.


	3. She is the springtime of youth itself!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

Chapter 3: She is the springtime of youth itself!

It had been exactly one month since Haruka arrived at Konoha. She finally began to feel more at ease about living among other people. After all, she spent the past twelve years living with an old man alone. It was quite a big culture shock for her to suddenly find herself living in a community filled with people of different ages and backgrounds. However, after the initial shock was over, Haruka decided that she indeed enjoyed being around other people and feeling their presence.

Haruka's life had also settled into a comfortable routine. Every morning she would spend hours reading at the Nara clan's family library. She took notes on potentially useful medical recipes so that she could test them at her laboratory in the afternoon. Mrs. Nara Yoshino was very kind to Haruka. Sometimes she would invite her to stay and have lunch with the Nara family. Shikamaru secretly thought that Haruka was one of the very few women in Konoha who were not troublesome at all.

After lunch, Haruka would go to the hospital. Tsunade set up a personal laboratory there for her to experiment with the Nara clan recipes. Haruka also wanted to continue with her research on optimizing Sasaki-sensei's medicines, and possibly inventing a few new medicines of her own. Furthermore, because of her exceptional medical ability, other medic nins at the hospital began to refer patients with complicated conditions to her. Very soon Haruka became everyone's favorite medic nin in the hospital -- not only was she knowledgeable, she was also extremely patient and gentle.

Haruka could not help but smiled when she thought about the old lady she treated earlier today. That sweet little baa-chan was suffering from a mild indigestion problem, but somehow she convinced herself that she had a fatal condition, and she simply would not stop sobbing. No one in the hospital knew what to do with her. Finally, Haruka brewed the old lady a cup of strong tea with herbs that would cure her indigestion problem. She put on a solemn face when she presented the tea to the old lady, and Kazahana told her that the tea was brewed with an exotic herb following an ancient formula. The little old lady's "fatal condition" was miraculously cured after she drank the tea, and she walked out of the hospital looking twenty years younger.

"Ah, one can never underestimate the power of placebo effect." Haruka thought to herself amusingly, as she leisurely walked home with Kazahana on her shoulder.

Suddenly two green shadows appeared in front of her. Haruka was startled for a split second, then she realized that they were merely two men dressed in green jumpsuits. However, there was something very unusual about these two people. The older man among the two, sporting a shiny bowl haircut, stared intensely at her face with his tear-filled eyes under the thick eyebrows. The younger man, who closely resembled the older man in appearance, stared intensely at the older man with a pad and pencil in his hands as if the older man was about to say something profound.

"Lee, look carefully, this is the springtime of youth itself standing right in front of your eyes!" Said the older man with a voice loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. Tears of joy started rolling down his cheeks as his eyes would not leave Haruka's face.

Lee, the younger guy, kept looking back and forth between the older man and Haruka. "Gai-sensei, I don't understand. What does this lady have to do with the springtime of youth?"

"Lee, my kawaii student, look at this lady. She is the crystal of all things beautiful in this universe. She is the pearl of perfection. Every inches of her body exude the energy of youth. She is, indeed, the springtime of youth itself! I am so honored to have finally met the springtime of youth itself!"

Haruka just stood there with a smile of embarrassment on her face. She and Kazahana kept exchanging nervous glances with each other, but neither of them knew what to do.

Haruka never knew of her own beauty before she came to Konoha. Sasaki-sensei would occasionally comment on how pretty she was, but Haruka always assumed that sensei was just being kind as usual. Thus, she was very surprised to find people in Konoha being swept off their feet by her beauty. They treated her beauty, as well as her muteness, as novelties. People talked about her. They asked her for her autograph on the street. Young girls started to dress like her. It was as if she had suddenly become the new sensation across Konoha.

Haruka was overwhelmed by her newfound stardom. Fortunately, people quickly got used to her unusual attributes. Now they just adored her and Kazahana, especially the children. They would frequently stop Haruka on the street and asked to pet the white parrot, which both Haruka and Kazahana thought was very cute.

But something like this had definitely never happened before. That Gai-sensei was still going on and on about the power and explosion of youth or something ridiculous like that. Haruka was starting to wonder if she should prescribe him some calming medicine, or perhaps she should just escape from the scene quickly.

"Haruka-sensei! Kazahana!" Suddenly a cheerful voice appeared at the other end of the street. Haruka turned her head and saw a pink-haired girl running towards her.

"It's Sakura-chan!" Kazahana said happily. It noticed that Sakura was not alone. There were two people behind her, one was Kakashi, and the other one was a blond-haired boy that Kazahana had never seen before.

"Haruka-sensei, Kazahana, what are you doing here?" Sakura paused as she noticed Gai and Lee. She said curiously, "Oh, Gai-sensei, Lee, you are here too. I didn't realize you two know Haruka-sensei. Are you guys just hanging out?"

However, the experienced shinobi Kakashi was not as naïve as his student. He saw the tears shining on Gai's cheeks, and he instantly knew what was happening. He shook his head hopelessly, and he decided to save the poor girl from Gai's ridicule.

He said in a cheerful voice, "Hey, Haruka, we finally found you. We are almost late for our dinner reservation, so we'd better get going. Gai, Lee, see you later!" He grabbed her arm and led her away coolly. His students were confused, but they quickly waved goodbye at Gai and Lee and followed their sensei around the corner.

Kakashi kept on walking until he was sure that they would not run into Gai again. "You're safe now." He smiled at Haruka.

Haruka gestured back, and Kazahana translated the meaning for her. "Kakashi-sama, Haruka said that this was the second time you saved her."

Sakura smiled understandingly. "I see. Haruka-sensei, was Gai-sensei giving you a hard time with his springtime of youth nonsense?"

Kakashi looked at Sakura curiously. "Sakura, I didn't realize that you're studying with Haruka-san?"

Sakura was slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei, I meant to tell you earlier, but we got busy with training and I forgot. Tsunade-sensei has been very busy lately, so she told me to study with Haruka-sensei instead. I have been going to the hospital three times a week. Haruka-sensei is teaching me how to make medicines and treat patients. Haruka-sensei is a great teacher and I enjoy her lessons very much."

Haruka made a series of gestures. Sakura could already understand many of her gestures, so she translated them for her, "And Haruka-sensei said that I'm a great student as well." The teacher and student pair looked at each other and smiled.

"Anosa anosa, you guys can keep on talking, but I'm getting really hungry." The blond-haired youngster complained impatiently.

"Oh, Haruka-sensei, I forgot to introduce you. This is Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto and I are both on Kakashi-sensei's team."

Haruka smiled at Naruto. Suddenly she bent down to examine a deep cut on Naruto's face.

"I got cut by a kunai during training this afternoon." Naruto explained.

Haruka smiled understandingly. She concentrated a small amount of chakra on her index finger, which appeared as a soft blue glow around her fingertip. She gently touched Naruto's wound back and forth with her chakra, and within minutes the wound was healed. Everyone watched this in awe.

"What an amazing control of her chakra." Kakashi thought.

"I want to be like Haruka-sensei when I grow up." Sakura thought. "I have to train harder."

"Wow, the wound is gone." Naruto touched his face in disbelief. "Thank you so much, Haruka nee-chan! Oh, I almost forgot, we are on our way to Ichiraku ramen. You are coming with us, right?"

"Yeah, sensei, come with us. You'll like Ichiraku ramen!" Sakura said.

Before Haruka knew it, she was sitting at the ramen stall and eating a bowl of steamy ramen with everyone. She did like the ramen, and she enjoyed her company very much. She insisted on picking up the tab at the end of the dinner.

"That was very generous of her." Kakashi thought on his way home after dinner. "What should I do tonight? I suppose I can read chapter three of Icha Icha Paradise again."

However, when he arrived at his house, he noticed a dark shadow leaning against his front door.

"An enemy?"

Kakashi was about to pull out a kunai when the shadow walked into the street light. It was his self-acclaimed eternal rival Maito Gai.

"Gai-kun? What are you doing at my house?" Kakashi said curiously as he returned the kunai into his pouch.

"Kakashi." Gai had a serious look on his face. "I'm here to apologize. I'm sorry I offended your girlfriend earlier today. I was just excited to see such a perfect specimen of the springtime of youth."

"Wait, wait, hold on." Kakashi was taken aback by what Gai said. "Gai, what makes you think that she's my girlfriend?"

Gai was confused by Kakashi's reaction. "Well, you were holding her hand, and you were taking her to dinner."

Kakashi could feel droplets of sweat forming on his back. He did not want a rumor like that to spread. "Gai, you misunderstood. It was nothing like that. I was just trying to save that poor girl from your harassment. She's not my girlfriend. In fact, she's not even my type."

Gai was even more confused. "Kakashi, what's wrong with you? That woman is kind, beautiful, and intelligent. She is a perfect being. How can anyone not fall head over heels in love with her?"

Kakashi looked down and thought for a moment. Gai's words had forced him into a painful memory. Finally he said, "Gai-kun, you remember what happened to Uchiha Obito, right?"

Gai nodded slowly. He had heard stories of how Kakashi's former teammate Uchiha Obito died while saving Kakashi from a fatal attack.

"Ever since then, I have vowed to not let anyone else die for my sake." Kakashi buried his face into his hands. "Because of my fame as a shinobi, I'm constantly being targeted by enemies. Anyone who is close to me will automatically become their target as well. So, you see, I can only be with people who are strong and capable of protecting themselves. I don't want to see my loved ones get hurt or die because of me."

Gai completely understood Kakashi's thoughts. "I know what you mean." He said, then he added helpfully, "But, Kakashi-kun, if that is your only concern, I can start teaching her taijutsu. With my enthusiastic teaching style, I guarantee that she will become a taijutsu expert in no time."

Kakashi could not help but laugh. "That is very kind of you, Gai-kun, but why are you pushing this so hard? It's not like I'm desperate or anything."

Gai scratched the back of his head. "I don't know, I just thought the two of you will make a great couple. Kakashi-kun, you are the only one in town who I consider to be good enough for my goddess of springtime of youth."

However, Kakashi did not hear what Gai said because he was immersed in another thought. He said, "Did you say something, Gai?"

Gai turned around in mocked rage. "That Kakashi, he is... he is... way too cool!" Then he simply walked off.

Kakashi smiled under his mask. He often acted cool and indifferent with Gai, but deep down he appreciated his friendship. However, he was holding back a thought from him. Somehow Kakashi did not think Gai would understand this.

He knew that people in Konoha thought of Haruka as a symbol of perfection. Even her disability had somehow become part of that perfection. But that was strange, wasn't it? No one was perfect. People had flaws and faults, that was just the way of life. People also experienced negative emotions. Bad things happened, and it was OK to get upset at bad things. However, Kakashi had never seen Haruka express any type of negative emotions. She was always cheerful and patient.

Was there something underneath that shell of perfection? Kakashi wondered.


	4. The mission

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

Chapter 4: The Mission

Sakura threw a kunai at Naruto, who dodged it swiftly by tumbling in midair. Sakura continued to attack Naruto with four shurikens, each coming from a different direction. Naruto quickly created three shadow clones to catch the shurikens and throw them back at Sakura. However, the shurikens hit nothing but a piece of rotten wood, as Sakura escaped with the replacement technique.

"Good work, Sakura! If we keep training like this we'll be able to bring Sasuke back from Orochimaru in no time!" Naruto complimented Sakura with his ever so cheerful voice.

Kakashi silently watched his students practice on the training ground. He could not be more proud of them. Both Naruto and Sakura had grown a lot during the past year. Naruto was no longer the number one loud and annoying prankster he used to be. Despite his occasional moments of silliness, Naruto had become a brave and dependable shinobi who was not afraid to follow his own way of ninja. His combat skills were constantly improving too. Kakashi wondered if Naruto would some day surpass the Fourth Hokage himself. Sakura, on the other hand, had shown major improvements in her medical skills, thanks to Haruka's mentorship. She would undoubtedly become a successful medic nin in the future.

Kakashi had not seen Haruka for a while, though he kept hearing stories about her through Sakura. It had only been a few months since Haruka came to Konoha, but she had successfully earned the respect and acknowledgement from everyone in the medical community. People no longer referred to her as "the pretty girl"; they now saw her as a medical genius, and a successor of the legendary Sasaki-sensei.

"Kakashi-san!" Kamizuki Izumo suddenly appeared in front of Kakashi with a poof of smoke. "Tsunade-sama would like to see you and your team immediately. She has a mission for you."

Kakashi thanked Izumo for the message and hurried to Tsunade's office with his subordinates. They found the Hokage sitting at her usual place with a serious look on her face.

"Team Kakashi, I have an A-rank mission for you. Due to the nature of this mission, I have temporarily assigned a new member to your team." Tsunade said.

Before Naruto could protest about not needing a replacement for Sasuke on the team, the door opened and a slender figure walked in.

"It's Haruka nee-chan!" Naruto was confused. "Tsunade baa-chan, our new team member couldn't possibly be Haruka nee-chan? She is a great medic nin and all but she was not ranked as a shinobi!"

"Naruto, that was rude." Tsunade leaned forward and flicked Naruto on his forehead. "I have just promoted Haruka to a Tokubetsu Jounin because of her exceptional medical skills. She can now accept missions like the rest of you do."

"That is fantastic, Haruka-sensei!" Sakura cheered as she admired the shiny new forehead protector tied neatly underneath Haruka's long silky black hair.

"Now, without further ado, I will let Shizune explain the details of the mission to you." Tsunade said.

Shizune, who had been standing quietly next to Tsunade, rolled open a scroll of map. She pointed to a small country north of the Land of Fire and said, "Our client this time is the feudal lord of the Land of Quartz. Kakashi, you might remember Lord Ishiguro from a S-rank mission a few months ago? You identified and captured a dangerous spy from his residence."

Kakashi remembered that mission indeed. He was able to complete that mission rather effortlessly, and he rescued Haruka from the spider monster on his way back to Konoha.

"After you left, Kakashi, Lord Ishiguro interrogated the spy himself, but the spy immediately committed suicide without giving up any information. However, using the country's census data, Lord Ishiguro found out that the spy was originally from a small village in the south. He suspected that the spy was sent by a group of rebels who are planning a coup d'etat. Your mission, Team Kakashi, will be to go to the village and find out who the rebels are, where they are hiding, what their plans are, and destroy their plans." Shizune summarized the mission concisely as usual.

Tsunade quickly added, "Also, Lord Ishiguro had his men perform autopsy on the dead body of the spy. They found that he killed himself by using a powerful poison that no one had seen or heard of before. This suggested that one of the rebels might be a poison master. That's why we are sending Haruka with you – she is a master in poisons and antidotes herself."

Kakashi shot a quick glance at Haruka – her skills would undoubtedly be useful if they were confronted by a poison master, but he hoped that they wouldn't get into a real battle. He already had to look after Sakura in battles. He was not sure if he could protect two people at the same time.

Nonetheless, Kakashi accepted the mission and told his team members to go home and gather their belongings. "We'll meet up at the gate as soon as possible, so don't be late." He said coolly.

Sakura and Naruto immediately shouted together, "You're the only one who is always late, Kakashi-sensei!"

Haruka went home to gather her tools. Since their enemies might potentially attack them with poisons, she needed to bring a wide selection of antidotes with her in order to protect her teammates. She went through all the bottles in her cabinet, giving each chemical a good thought before she decided whether to take it or not. She would like to bring as much as possible, but an overly heavy backpack would inhibit her mobility as well. She needed to choose wisely. Suddenly, she eyes fell upon a small bottle containing an innocent looking white fluid. She body froze up a little – should she bring THAT?

With some hesitation, Haruka reached for the bottle of white fluid and put it inside her backpack.

"Haruka-sensei, welcome to our team. I'm so glad to be traveling with you!" Sakura said cheerfully as Team Kakashi left for the Land of Quartz.

"Anosa anosa, Kakashi-sensei, how far is the Land of Quartz? When will we get there?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"The Land of Quartz is approximately a day and a half away from Konoha, just north of this forest. We should be able to reach our destination by tomorrow afternoon." Kakashi explained.

"The Land of Quartz... what a funky name. What the heck is a quartz anyway?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"Naruto, you really should study harder." Sakura put on her didactic voice. "Quartz is a kind of crystal that has great industrial values. You know the radio we use to communicate with each other during missions? Quartz is an important component of the radio. Basically, there would be no radio if there were no quartz. This is common knowledge!"

"Also, the Land of Quartz is the only country that produces quartz, as well as a wide variety of other gem stones. That is how a small country like that survives among the big countries – by mining and selling the precious quartz." Kakashi added. "But Sakura is right. Naruto, you do need to study harder!"

Everyone laughed, including Naruto. As Kakashi observed Haruka's silent laugh, he suddenly asked, "Haruka, where is Kazahana?" He knew that the white parrot often served as Haruka's translator.

_--Kazahana is not feeling well, so I told her to stay home and rest.--_ Haruka gestured, and Sakura translated for her. --_I figure Sakura-chan can translate for me.-- _

"That is too bad. I hope Kazahana feel better soon." Kakashi expressed his regrets. He realized that he needed to learn Haruka's hand gestures as soon as possible because lack of proper communication could be extremely dangerous during a battle.

"Well, people did not call me Copy Ninja for no reason." Kakashi thought to himself. Sakura and Haruka were now walking together and having a discussion on medicinal herbs or something. Kakashi intentionally walked next to them. He lifted his forehead protector to reveal his sharingan and used it to copy Haruka's hand movements. He quickly learned that Haruka's gestures consisted of two components – a descriptive component that involved using her hands to imitate an object or action, and a phonetic component that she used to explain more abstract concepts. Soon Kakashi could understand Haruka's hand gestures without any difficulty. He put his forehead protector back down with satisfaction.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, isn't it time for lunch yet?" Naruto complained as his stomach growled loudly. He got up early that morning to practice, and they had been walking for quite a while now.

"That's a good point." Kakashi looked around. He could hear the sound of a river nearby. "Naruto, why don't you and I go to that river and catch us some fish? Haruka, Sakura, you wouldn't mind starting a camp fire for us, would you?"

The two sensei and student pairs split up and tended to their tasks respectively. Very soon Haruka and Sakura had a nice and strong camp fire going.

"Where are the guys and their fish?" Sakura's stomach had begun to growl as well.

Suddenly Haruka gestured Sakura to remain quiet. She could hear footsteps coming. It was a fairly large group. There were ten, no, eleven of them.

As the sound of the footsteps drew near, a group of rugged looking men emerged from the forest. Each one of them was as large as a bear, and they all carried some sort of weapons. "They look like bandits who lurk in the forest and attack travelers for their valuables." Haruka thought. "They must have found us by following the smoke of the camp fire."

"What a lucky day it is." One of the bandits laughed menacingly. "Two beautiful girls waiting for us by the fire. The older one is prettier, I'll take her."

Sakura could feel every single nerve in her body tightening up. She did not think she could fight eleven bear-like bandits at the same time, but she had to try, to protect herself and her beloved Haruka-sensei. She had to try. "Where is Naruto and Kakashi-sensei when you need them?" She thought worriedly, as she reached into her pouch and drew a kunai into her hand.

"Naruto, you can stop now. I think we have enough." Kakashi said casually. He had sent Naruto into the river to chase the fish out so that he could catch them with his kunais.

"Why am I always the one who got sent into the river?" Naruto was referring to the time when Sasuke did the same thing to him during the Chuunin exam.

"Sensei, since I was the one who went into the river, I want the biggest fish."

"But I was the one who actually caught the fish."

Kakashi and Naruto jokingly argued with each other as they walked back to the camp fire.

Suddenly they heard a loud sound of metal clashing and men screaming. Kakashi and Naruto looked at each other. "It's coming from where Sakura-chan and Haruka nee-chan are at!" Naruto started running towards the sound, and Kakashi followed right after him.

Damn, he was being too careless. One of them should have stayed with the girls. Kakashi blamed himself silently, but he really did not expect to encounter enemies this early on.

As they approached the site, the metal clashing sound became more clear. Kakashi could already see the camp fire. He could also see the group of bandits with their drawn weapons. Kakashi felt slightly relieved when he realized that these were just regular bandits instead of ninjas -- bandits were much easier to deal with than ninjas.

But -- wait! There was also a shadow weaving between the bandits at a super human speed. Every time when the shadow passed a bandit, the bandit would scream in pain and crumble to the ground. Some of the bandits tried to attack the shadow with their weapons, but their weapons would be deflected by something held in the shadow's hands, creating a metal clashing sound.

Who was this person? Was he a friend or a foe? Where were the girls? Kakashi could see Sakura standing by the fire, clutching a kunai in her hand, but where was Haruka?

The battle ended by the shadow spinning next to the last standing bandit and kicking him straight at his temple. The bandit fainted without the slightest struggle. Kakashi looked at all the bandits lying on the ground. None of them were killed or seriously injured, but they were all rolling around and moaning in pain.

And then there was Haruka, standing among the moaning bandits and smoothening her long silky hair gracefully as her hair had gotten messy during the fight.

"Whoa! Haruka nee-chan! Did you do that?" Naruto pointed at the bandits in disbelief. His eyes were so wide open that his eyeballs looked like they could fall out at any moment.

Haruka nodded while looking a bit embarrassed. --_ I think I overdid it a bit. I haven't been in a real fight for a long time. Let me go take a look at them.-- _She gestured. Naruto could only understand a little bit of her hand gestures, but he grasped the main idea of what she was saying nonetheless.

Haruka kneeled down next to the bandit closest to her. She lifted up his arm and removed a long needle that was inserted into his elbow. The bandit instantly stopped moaning. He just stared at Haruka blankly as she gently massaged his elbow. Haruka then proceeded to treat the rest of the bandits. For those who were moaning in pain, she cured them by either removing a needle that was inserted into their joints, or by readjusting a misaligned joint. For the few that had fainted, Haruka took out a small sniffing bottle from her bag and put it under their noses so that the pungent chemical would wake them up.

Finally she finished treating all of the bandits. However, they just remained seated on the ground stupidly. These bandits were all hardened criminals. They had been beaten up many times in their lives, but not once had they ever been treated so kindly after the beating.

Kakashi found this situation mildly amusing. He said with an intimidating tone of voice, "What are you scum bags doing here still? Are you looking for another beating?"

The bandits looked at each other. Suddenly they all jumped up and fled to the depth of the forest. Haruka just watched them leave with a smile.

Naruto said, "Wow, that was..."

"... incredible." Sakura finished the sentence for him.

"Haruka nee-chan, where did you learn to fight like that?" Naruto could not wait to ask.

Kakashi wondered as well, "Was Sasaki-sensei secretly a combat master, even though he was never known for his combat skills?"

_--No no no, Sasaki-sensei was such a gentle old man, he could not even kill an ant.-- _ Haruka smiled as she thought of her kind sensei. _ --I learned my combat skills from a certain hermit.-- _

"A hermit?" Sakura said curiously.

_--This happened when I was still a little girl. One day I found a hermit in the forest. He had been bitten by a poisonous snake and was about to die. I managed to save him by making him an antidote against the snake poison. After he recovered, he insisted on teaching me combat techniques in return for saving his life.-- _

Hmm... a hermit and a snake. Kakashi was forming an interesting hypothesis in his mind. "Do you remember the hermit's name?"

_--He never told me his name. He only referred to himself as the Frog Hermit.-- _

"The Frog Hermit?" Naruto almost choked on himself. "Could it be Ero-sennin who taught you how to fight?"

"Well, Jiraiya-sama is the only Frog Hermit we know." Kakashi said coolly. He was almost certain that the "poisonous snake" in Jiraiya's story was related to Orochimaru somehow. "But Haruka, your combat style is entirely different from Jiraiya-sama's."

_--That is correct. The hermit said that his fighting techniques were not designed for people like me, so instead he observed me for days, and came up with a combat strategy that suited my natural abilities the most.-- _

"What exactly did Ero-sennin teach you, nee-chan?" Naruto was always excited to hear about a new combat technique.

_--Let's see... the Frog Hermit said that I have two talents. First, I can control my chakra very well, and I can easily direct my chakra to any specific part of my body. The Frog Hermit taught me to concentrate chakra on my feet and release it at the right time. This way the chakra will act as a propeller and give me incredible speed during a fight.-- _

"No wonder you can move faster than Fuzzy Eyebrows! I was wondering about that. There is no way taijutsu alone can give you that speed. What is your second talent then, nee-chan?"

_--Well, as you know, I am a medic nin, so I have a deep understanding on how the human body works. I know where all the vulnerable spots are. With my speed, I can easily misalign a joint or stun my opponents with basic taijutsu. The Frog Hermit also taught me to use needles as weapons. I can immobilize my opponents by inserting a needle into the weak part of their joints, or I can kill them by attacking a fatal spot. I can even put poison on the needles if I like, but I rarely do that.-- _

"That was simply amazing." Sakura said with admiration. She suddenly realized that she had so much to learn from her sensei.

Recalling how Jiraiya taught him the summoning technique, Naruto asked, "Did Ero-sennin teach you how to summon frogs as well?"

Haruka shook her head. _-- No, he tried but the frogs would not accept my blood as a contract. The hermit had to find another contract for me instead. It turns out that I am a bird user. I have three birds on my contract. One is Kazahana, and the other two are an egret and a phoenix.-- _

"A phoenix? I thought phoenix can only be summoned by a very special type of people." Kakashi gave Haruka a meaningful look.

"What kind of special people it is, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked curiously.

"No, it's nothing." Kakashi laughed. "I had probably remembered it wrong. Anyway, aren't you all hungry? We should eat our lunch and continue with our journey."

The four of them quickly prepared their lunch. While they were all eating quietly, Kakashi tried to analyze Haruka's combat techniques in his mind.

She did not have a lot of stamina or a large reserve of chakra like Naruto did, but her chakra control ability was unparallel, and she had a dangerous amount of knowledge on how to torture a human body. What Jiraiya-sama taught her was indeed the best combat strategies for her natural talents.

"Has she just become even more perfect?" Kakashi suddenly asked himself.


	5. The darkness behind perfection

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

Chapter 5: The darkness behind perfection

Team Kakashi had been traveling for a whole day towards the Land of Quartz. Finally the last trace of daylight had disappeared. Kakashi decided to set up their camp site for the night in a small clearing of the forest.

They put on a bonfire to keep wild animals away during the night. Then they rolled out their sleeping bags around the fire and got ready to sleep.

"Good night, Haruka-sensei." Sakura said to Haruka, who was lying next to her.

Haruka smiled back softly.

Sakura suddenly noticed that her sensei looked very pale under the bonfire light. "Sensei, are you feeling ok? You don't look too well." Sakura asked worriedly.

--_I'm ok. I'm just a bit tired. I'll be fine after I get some sleep._-- Haruka reassured Sakura.

But that was a lie. A blatant lie. Haruka knew perfectly well that sleep would not solve her problem. Nonetheless, she forced herself to close her eyes and tried her best to ignore the uneasy feeling that had begun to spread inside her.

It always started around her stomach. It felt like a hand was clutching her stomach and squeezing it. It made her want to vomit. She could feel beads of sweat forming on her back.

"Breathe," Haruka told herself. "Breathe. Take it easy and breathe. Breathe in slowly. Breathe out slowly."

Breathing did not help. Her inside had now turned into a giant twisted mess, screaming for attention. Screaming for... THAT.

"DO IT." A voice inside her head said. "EVERYONE IS ASLEEP. DO IT."

Was everyone really asleep? Haruka listened carefully. She could hear Sakura's peaceful breathing and Naruto's loud snore. The kids were sound asleep alright. She couldn't hear anything from Kakashi, so she opened her eyes and observed him for a while. He looked like he was asleep too.

Finally, Haruka climbed out of her sleeping bag and put on her boots quietly. She grabbed her backpack, took another look at her teammates, and disappeared into the darkness.

Kakashi jumped out of his sleeping bag as soon as Haruka had left. As a skilled shinobi, he was always alert of his environment, even when he was asleep. He did not like the fact that one of this teammates had just left the camp site without notifying him, the team leader. He also worried about her – he had noticed as well that Haruka looked a bit pale during dinner. Was she sick? If so, she should get some rest, instead of running around in the chilly night breeze.

Kakashi followed behind Haruka quietly. The full moon helped him keep track of the slender figure walking hastily ahead of him. Haruka seemed to be in a rather distraught state as she kept tripping over herself. Kakashi had to try very hard to not lend her a hand when she fell because he needed to find out where his teammate was heading to.

Haruka stopped walking when she reached the river. She sat down heavily and tried to catch her breath. She then opened her backpack and took out something. Kakashi could not see what she had in her hands, so he hopped onto a nearby tree branch to observe her from above.

In her hands was a small bottle of white fluid that shined innocently under the moon light. She reached into her bag again. This time she took out a syringe. She carefully drew some of white fluid into the syringe and tapped the tip to remove air bubbles. Then she rolled up the sleeve of her khaki shirt. Kakashi could see with his trained shinobi eyes that her exposed arm was full of needle holes.

THE FORBIDDEN SUBSTANCE.

These three words suddenly flashed through Kakashi's mind. He remembered reading from one of his academy text books that "the forbidden substance is a potent sedative and pain-killer. It appears as a viscous white fluid at room temperature. It can reduce pain and induce euphoria when injected into the human body. However, due to its highly addictive nature, it has been classified as a forbidden substance. Any illegal user of the substance will face criminal charges."

Before Kakashi knew it, his body had acted on its own and tossed a twig at the bottle of forbidden substance in Haruka's hand. The little glass bottle fell onto the ground but did not break. Haruka let out a gasp as she noticed the Jounin's presence. Her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"That's the forbidden substance, isn't it?" Kakashi said as he hopped down from the tree.

Haruka didn't reply. She just looked at Kakashi with her fear filled eyes. She was breathing fast. What would the masked man do to her?

Kakashi walked towards the bottle of forbidden substance. He was about to pick it up and toss it into the river, but Haruka would not let him. Her body needed the substance. She had to fulfill her body's request. She quickly produced a long needle from her weapon pouch and attacked Kakashi with it. Despite the darkness and her state of confusion, she was able to accurately aim at the soft part of his wrist. However, before the needle could puncture his skin, Kakashi swiftly rotated his hand and grabbed Haruka's wrist instead. With just a slight push at the right angle, Haruka was forced to let go of the needle.

Haruka used her now empty hand to push her body off the ground in order to send a high kick towards Kakashi's head. Kakashi dodged it and caught Haruka's waist in midair. He intended to grapple her into a wrestling hold. However, Haruka had been sweating profusely as a result of her body's craving for the forbidden substance. She managed to free her slippery body out of the Kakashi's hold rather easily. Seeing that he was at a higher position than she was, Kakashi intentionally fell onto Haruka and pressed her down with his body weight. He finally managed to lock her down in a more secure wrestling hold.

Kakashi could feel Haruka's body struggling under his strong arms to no avail. "It's useless. I have pinned down both of your arms and legs. You cannot possibly get out of this hold with your strength." He said calmly.

He looked at the woman under his body. Her usual graceful composure was gone. Her face was pale. Her bloodshot eyes were wide open. Her nostrils were flaring as she breathed heavily. Her sweat drenched body was trembling and cold to touch. Kakashi knew that Haruka was suffering from the withdrawal effect of the forbidden substance. He could only imagine how much pain she was in right now.

Kakashi adjusted his position such that even though he was still holding her in a tight lock, she was sitting in a more comfortable position. It was almost as if they were embracing each other.

Haruka had given up on struggling. She knew that she could not win a fight against Kakashi. She felt very sick right now. Her stomach would not stop twisting, and sweat was pouring out from every single one of her pores. She felt dizzy, and her whole body was shaking. Damn it, Kakashi, she needed the substance. She needed it right now. Give it to her. Just give it to her. Please.

As if reading her mind, Kakashi started patting her back consolingly. He even started humming a little song for her. A song that parents would sing to their children at night to put them to sleep. Suddenly Haruka started sobbing soundlessly. Tears were rolling down her cheeks uncontrollably.

Kakashi just kept patting her and singing to her, until finally she fell asleep in her misery.


	6. The promise

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

Chapter 6: The promise

Birds always seemed to be the first creatures to wake up in the morning. As the morning sun slowly poured into the forest, one by one the forest birds got up and began their song and dance ritual of the day.

Haruka had always liked birds. When she was little, she would spend hours sitting outside just to watch the birds. Someone would hold her lovingly and told her the name of every bird that flew by. Who was that person? Haruka could not remember. It probably was Sasaki-sensei. Who else would it be?

A bird just flew by and made a series of musical _weedle-eedle_ sound. Haruka could tell that it was a blue jay just by its calls. There was also a woodpecker nearby. Haruka could hear the regular wood pecking sound mixed with an occasional crisp call from the bird.

Haruka slowly opened her eyes. She loved waking up to the sound of birds. The morning sun felt warm on her body. This would be another beautiful day. Haruka wanted to get up but her body felt very heavy, as if she had fought a long battle yesterday. Why did she feel so exhausted?

Suddenly the memory of last night's events sneaked into Haruka's mind -- her craving for the forbidden substance, her fight with Kakashi, and her break down. She remembered Kakashi trying to comfort her by singing her a little tune. The thought of Kakashi singing brought a smile to Haruka's face. He really had an unexpectedly good singing voice.

Speaking of Kakashi, where was he now? Did he go back to the camp site? Haruka slowly turned her head around to look for the silver-haired man. Her body froze as she suddenly realized that she had been sitting in the arms of the man she was looking for.

That was right. Kakashi had locked her into a wrestling hold last night before she fell asleep. Apparently Kakashi fell asleep as well, and the wrestling hold secretly turned into a close embrace while they were both sleeping. Kakashi was sitting against a tree. Haruka's head had been resting comfortably on Kakashi's chest, and Kakashi had buried his chin in the thickness of her hair. His arms were wrapped around her body to shield her from the chilly night breeze.

Haruka could feel her face burning. Anyone who saw them right now would immediately assume that they were lovers. Yet they were not lovers. They were merely teammates... a teammate that had caught another teammate committing a crime.

Haruka's heart sank as she thought of this. Yes, she was caught red handed using the forbidden substance. She would have to face criminal charges, just like the text books said. That would be the end of her career. She would no longer be considered the successor of Sasaki-sensei. People would be disappointed at her. People... Tsunade-sama... Sasaki-sensei... especially Sasaki-sensei... the gentle old man who adopted the orphan child and loved her as his own granddaughter. The gentle old man would be so disappointed at the orphan child. Oh what had she done.

Haruka wished she could reverse time. She wished that she was more careful last night. She should have noticed that Kakashi was following her. Perhaps she should not have brought the forbidden substance with her on this trip. Heck, she should not have started using it in the first place.

But… wait… obviously she could not reverse time, but perhaps she could reverse the fact that there was a witness to her crime? A dangerous thought began to creep into Haruka's mind.

Haruka tilted her head upward to observe Kakashi's face. The masked ninja's sole visible eye was still shut tight. He was even snoring lightly. Haruka's face was so close to Kakashi that she could almost kiss him... or perhaps... kill him. Kakashi was the only witness to her crime. If he died, no one would know about her illegal usage of the forbidden substance.

Haruka slowly reached into her weapon pouch and drew out a long needle. She knew that if she inserted the needle at the right spot on Kakashi's chest, it would go right in between his bones and entered his heart. His heart would stop beating as if he had had a heart attack. The wound made by the needle would be very small; she could seal it with her chakra after she pulled the needle out.

And she knew exactly where that fatal spot was.

Haruka took a deep breath and gathered chakra on her hand. If this was done correctly, Kakashi would not even feel much pain before his heart stopped beating. Sorry about this, Kakashi. Haruka closed her eyes and apologized soundlessly to the man who had once saved her life. Then, with determination, she opened her eyes and plunged the needle deep into Kakashi's chest!

Kakashi's eyes opened abruptly and stared at Haruka in disbelief. However, before Haruka could pull the needle out of his body, the man in front of her disappeared with a loud sound of "pop".

"What did you do to my shadow clone?" Kakashi's voice asked casually behind her.

Haruka jumped up in shock but fell back heavily onto the ground.

She turned around and looked at Kakashi in disbelief – since when did he leave his shadow clone here? Her body began to tremble violently.

"I woke up about an hour ago, when you were still sleeping. I figured you'd be hungry when you got up, so I went and gathered some breakfast for us. I also went and told the kids to start the day's journey without us – we'll catch up with them later. Since it was still pretty chilly in the morning, I didn't want you to catch a cold, so I left a shadow clone with you to keep you warm." Kakashi said with a friendly smile.

Why was this man acting so friendly? Still trembling, Haruka sat on the ground and looked at Kakashi with skeptical eyes. Why was he still smiling at her, after she tried to kill him? Attempting to murder one's own teammate was a much bigger crime than using the forbidden substance. He should capture her immediately and send her back to Konoha. What was this man thinking? Was he playing some sort of game with her?

Haruka suddenly felt very tired. She didn't want to play games with him. She looked directly into Kakashi's eyes and gestured. _ –When are you sending me back to Konoha?--_

"Send you back?" Kakashi sounded surprised. "Why would I send you back to Konoha?"

_--Look.--_ Haruka had a scornful look on her face. She wished the man would stop toying with her. _–You have witnessed me committing two severe crimes. According to the protocol, you need to send me back to Konoha immediately for trials in front of the councilors.--_

"And what good would that do to anyone?" Kakashi squatted down in front of Haruka so that he could look directly into her eyes. "Sure I could send you back. You would go to trials. You would be condemned. You would lose your career and people would lose their respect for you. But then Konoha would lose a great medic nin. Sakura would lose a great sensei. Tsunade-sama would lose a great shinobi. The Nara clan would lose a great researcher on their family medicine. And I... I would lose a great teammate. It's a lose-lose situation."

_--But rules are rules. If you don't follow the rules, you are committing a crime yourself.--_

"In the world of the ninja," Kakashi said slowly, almost painfully, "those who violate the rules and laws are called trash. However... those who don't take care of their comrades are worse than trash." Kakashi repeated the words that Uchiha Obito had imprinted in his head with his own death. "Haruka," Kakashi said sincerely. "I have saved your life before. Please let me save you again."

_--Why do you want to help someone who just tried to kill you?--_ Haruka gestured sourly.

"Haruka," Kakashi said softly, as if he were cooing a small animal. "when you inserted that needle into my shadow clone, you did not exude the slightest hint of murderous intent. You did not want to hurt me, you just wanted to protect yourself. I can tell the difference. You are only fighting and biting because you are hurt, and you are scared. "

The woman in front of him looked so fragile and pitiful. Her normal confident poise was gone. Her body was slouching on the ground, and her large expressive eyes were filled with mistrust and confusion. She looked like a small and injured animal shivering with fear. Kakashi wanted to comfort her. He wanted to... he wanted to hold her in his arms and run his fingers through her thick silky hair, like he did last night. But he refrained himself from doing so. He didn't want her to think that he was helping her in order to take advantage of her.

Instead, he sat down next to her and rolled open a small cloth package he had been holding in his hands. "Look at what I found this morning." He said with an almost overly cheerful voice. Inside the package were berries of all kinds and colors. "I'm hungry, so let's eat."

_–I'm not hungry...--_ Haruka started gesturing, but she changed her mind as soon as she saw the delicious looking berries. She picked up a juicy black berry and put it in her mouth gracefully. Mmm. The taste of sweetness on her tongue made her feel a little more relaxed.

She picked up another berry, then another one. Kakashi had already finished his share of food, but he did not say anything. He just quietly watched her eat. He suddenly realized that the Haruka in front of him right now was the real Haruka, not the shell of perfection that she carefully displayed when she was around other people. The real her was delicate, sensitive, and... beautiful, more beautiful than he had ever seen her.

Finally Haruka had finished eating. She blushed slightly as she realized that she had pigged out after declaring that she was not hungry. She lowered her eyes and started playing with a small mimosa plant next to where she sat. The delicate leaves of the plant shyly closed up upon her touch. When the leaves re-opened, Haruka decided it was time to tell her story as well.

_--Kakashi, have you ever had a terrible nightmare?--_ She asked a strange question.

Kakashi had never seen her spell his name with her gestures before. He decided that he liked the way his name looked in her hands. And... what kind of question was that? "Of course I've had nightmares before. I often have dreams about failing my missions." He said with a laugh.

_--What about a nightmare so bad that it pains you for days afterward, both mentally and physically?--_

"A nightmare that hurts you... physically?" Kakashi shook his head. Was that possible?

_--I've been haunted by a painful nightmare ever since I was a child. It's always been the same dream, the same details, the same horror. It comes and hurts me every now and then. Sometimes more often, sometimes less. I can always feel the pain in me for days after the dream's visit.-- _Haruka paused._ --When I was living alone in the forest, I would just take it easy for a few days to let the pain subside. I would rest. I would take walks in the forest and watch the birds. I would be fine after a few days. But now...--_

"But now you have all these responsibilities attached to you." Kakashi finished the sentence for her. "Your patients expect you to treat them, Sakura expects you to teach her, Tsunade-sama expects you to take on missions, and everyone in Konoha expect you to continue the legend of Sasaki-sensei." Kakashi hesitated before he said, "You can't fail these people's expectations, so you resort to the forbidden substance?"

_--Yes.-- _ Haruka gestured calmly, as if she were telling someone else's tale. _ --The forbidden substance... it takes the pain away from me. It gives me a false sense of happiness. When it's in my blood, it makes me believe that the nightmare never existed. The world is once again an alright place, that is, until my body becomes depended on the substance.--_

Kakashi couldn't help but ask, "But you're a medic nin. Sure you know the consequences of using the forbidden substance."

_--Yes, of course I do.--_ Haruka smiled bitterly. _ --But what are the choices I have? Use the forbidden substance and stay sane, or not use the forbidden substance and have the entire Konoha think that I'm weak and crazy? Who would believe that a person can become dysfunctional because of a stupid nightmare? They will laugh at me. They will laugh at Sasaki-sensei for having a disciple that is full of lies. I was an orphan child with absolutely no memories of my past. As far as I know, I could be the daughter of the worst criminal or the most dangerous murderer. But still, Sasaki-sensei adopted me without the slightest hesitation. I could only thank him by being as perfect as he is. Sasaki-sensei was such a great person. It was hard to be like him, but I have to because I cannot disappoint him.-- _Haruka buried her face in her hands painfully.

"I think you have misunderstood Sasaki-sensei." Kakashi said calmly. "He didn't want you to be perfect, he just wanted you to flourish with your talents, and live a happy life."

Haruka raised her head up from her hands and looked at Kakashi intensely.

"Since we are both Sakura's sensei, let's use her as an example." Kakashi said logically. "As Sakura's sensei, what do you think of her?"

Haruka thought for a moment. _--Well, she is very smart, very hard working, and very kind hearted. I enjoy teaching her very much.--_

"Is she as talented as you are?" Kakashi asked challengingly.

Haruka hesitated.

"No she isn't. When you were at her age, your skills had already surpassed that of Tsunade-sama's." Kakashi answered his own question. "But does that make you think less of Sakura? No, it doesn't either. You still love her, because she is flourishing with her own talents under your guidance."

Haruka started to see Kakashi's point.

"It was the same with me and Sakura. Her combat ability was a nightmare, but that does not make me treasure her any less than I treasure Naruto and Sasuke. The most important thing is, she is constantly improving and growing, and she is happy with herself. Her happiness and well-being are my number one priority."

Haruka lowered her head. Kakashi's words made sense to her. In fact, now that she thought about it, Sasaki-sensei had never once told her to be perfect. She was the one who trapped herself in a prison of perfection in order to please her sensei, even though he never asked for it. Was Kakashi right about this? Would Sasaki-sensei still like her even if she wasn't perfect? Would... would people in Konoha still like her if she wasn't perfect like before?

As if seeing through her thoughts, Kakashi said, "You know, no one is ever perfect. Tsunade-sama has a bad temper, Naruto doesn't use his brain enough, Sakura obsesses pathologically over Sasuke, Gai is a lunatic, Jiraiya-sama is a pervert, and me, I'm always late and I like to read Jiraiya's perverted books." Kakashi laughed semi-embarrassingly. "I don't know what kind of bad temper or weird habit you may have, because you have never shown me, but I'm sure it cannot be worse than any of us."

Haruka laughed soundlessly. The atmosphere had lightened up significantly. Kakashi felt relieved. It seemed like he had found the root of Haruka's problem. Now he just needed to keep an eye on her and made sure that she didn't touch the forbidden substance again. He knew that it would take a while for someone to recover from an addiction, but he was prepared to help her through it.

Now he had to move onto another problem. He asked tentatively. "Now... about that nightmare, it sounded terrible. Would you like to tell me about it?"

Haruka shuddered at the thought of having to re-live the nightmare mentally. She gestured hesitantly, _--If you don't mind, I don't want to talk about it right now. Not today... perhaps later, when I'm ready.--_

Kakashi understood. Haruka had already gone through a lot today. Better to let her recover first. However, Kakashi still felt a little bit disappointed. He took it as a sign that she did not fully trust him yet.

He genuinely wanted to help her. How could he win her trust?

"That's ok, Haruka. We should get going anyway. We have to catch up with Naruto and Sakura. But before that." Kakashi said slowly, searching for the right words to say. "I want to let you know that I really want to help you, and I want you to trust me." He paused for a moment, not entirely sure of his decision, but he proceeded anyway. "You have shared many secrets with me, and I promise to keep them to myself. In exchange, I'm going to give you a secret of mine to keep. This is a secret that no one else in Konoha knows about."

Haruka looked at Kakashi with her bright blue eyes. She could not hide her curiosity. What was it now, Kakashi?

"Are you ready?" Kakashi asked, and Haruka nodded.

Suddenly Kakashi pulled down his mask.

Appearing in front of Haruka was a good looking face. No, no, it wasn't a pretty boy's face. It wasn't even overly handsome, but it was good looking. A finely chiseled nose above those thin lips with brisk corners. His face was good looking because his confidence and determination were shown through its features.

"No one alive in Konoha has seen this face."

Haruka understood. Through that face, he was making a special promise to her. He promised her that he would help her. He would take care of her. And there was no reason for her to not trust him. It all said on his face.

Haruka was touched. She reached out her hand, and gently pulled up the mask to cover the good looking face again. _--We should go now, the kids are waiting.--_ She gestured.

Kakashi nodded. He believed that Haruka had understood his message. "Let's go." He said.

They both got up. Haruka was walking in front of Kakashi. Suddenly, she turned around and gave him a very beautiful smile.

Kakashi could feel his face reddened under the mask. He had forgotten how Haruka's smile had the magical power to make him blush.


	7. The Land of Quartz

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

Author's note: Hello everyone! First of all I'd like to thank all of you for reading and reviewing my story. It feels great to know that someone out there is reading your story and possibly even likes your story. Sorry it took me so long to update. I was out of town for two weeks but now I'm back. I can't wait to write!

A very interesting gemstone will be mentioned in this chapter. Its official name is Black Star Diopside. If you have time, do find a picture of it on google because it really is a beautiful stone. By the way, another name for this gemstone is Indian Black Star. :)

Chapter 7: The Land of Quartz

"Where are the senseis?" Naruto complained loudly. "We have been walking for the entire morning. Are they ever going to show up?"

"It looks like we will be entering the Land of Quartz very soon." Sakura said while she studied the map that Kakashi gave her this morning.

Suddenly they heard the sound of flapping wings above them.

"Naruto! Sakura!" It was Kakashi's voice.

Both genins looked up, and were surprised to see Kakashi and Haruka flying on the back of a gray egret. The elegant bird was almost double the size of a normal egret. Haruka was sitting in the front, holding onto the egret's long neck, and Kakashi was behind her.

The egret began to circle around the genins. When they were only thirty feet above ground, both Kakashi and Haruka hopped off swiftly. They waved at the bird as it disappeared into the sky.

"What a beautiful bird!" Sakura said excitedly. "Haruka-sensei, it is one of your summons, isn't it?"

"Kakashi-sensei, that's so unfair! How come we have to walk and you and nee-chan get to fly on a bird?" Naruto pouted.

With one hand in his pocket and one hand behind his head in an apologetic manner, Kakashi laughed casually, "Well, we had to gather some information so we were running late. It would have taken us too long to catch up with you guys if we had walked."

Naruto looked at them suspiciously, "Gathering information? Ero-sennin always uses that excuse when he is up to no good."

Kakashi laughed embarrassingly. In order to divert Naruto's attention away from what he and Haruka did this morning, he pointed to the front and said, "Look, Naruto, the border of the two countries is right in front of us, we are about to enter the Land of Quartz."

Just as Kakashi predicted, Naruto got excited and said, "Really? That's so cool. Guys, let's all run and see who gets to the border first!" As Naruto raced towards the border, Kakashi and Haruka exchanged a quick little smile with each other. "He can be so cute sometimes." Kakashi said adoringly.

As the team entered the Land of Quartz, they began to notice a change in landscape. The Land of Fire was covered with luscious forests. However, being in the north, the Land of Quartz was colder and drier and the vegetation more sparse. Most of the country consisted of rocky mountains, and the rocks often appeared dark and dense.

"It indicates that the rocks here are laden with minerals, which can be mined to produce high quality quartz and other gem stones." Kakashi explained.

As the four of them traveled further into the Land of Quartz, they began to find small mining villages along their way.

"Sensei," Sakura could not help but noticed, "if the Land of Quartz is the only country that supplies quartz to all the other countries, why is the country so poor?"

Everyone else noticed too. The villages they passed by so far all appeared to be in poverty. The streets were bare. The houses were old and dirty. The villagers were thin and frail, as if they had never had a good meal in their lives.

Kakashi shook his head. He did not have an answer for his students.

The team walked the remainder of their journey in silent. Finally they arrived at their destination.

"Village of... tur... turn... turnip?" Naruto tried to read the sign.

"You idiot, it's tourmaline." Sakura corrected him. "Kakashi-sensei, isn't tourmaline a kind of gemstone?"

"Yes, all villages in the Land of Quartz are named after gemstones." Kakashi said.

The Village of Tourmaline looked just like any other village in the Land of Quartz. Naruto looked around the empty streets and asked, "Sensei, how are we suppose to find out anything about the rebels if there's no one around? "

As soon as he said that, the door of a nearby house slammed open and hit the wall with a loud thud. An old man clad in ragged clothes walked out and stared at the group unpleasantly. "We do not welcome strangers here." He said coldly. "You do not have any business in our village, and we don't want you here. Go, leave now, return to where you came fr-- "

Suddenly the man froze. His wide open eyes became fixated on the space behind Kakashi, and his mouth hanged open stupidly. Did he see a ghost? Kakashi thought curiously. He followed the man's gaze and turned around, but he only found Haruka standing behind him.

Was the man shocked to see Haruka? Or was he simply stunned by her beauty? Kakashi cast a curious look at Haruka.

Haruka felt very uncomfortable under the man's glare, nonetheless she forced herself to give him a friendly smile. The smile seemed to release the old man from the shock. He took his eyes off Haruka and snorted loudly before he went back into his house without saying another word.

"What was that about?" Sakura mumbled to herself.

"Haruka, have you seen that man before?" Kakashi asked, but Haruka only shook her head confusedly.

"I guess they don't like strangers here." Kakashi shrugged, "There's nothing we can do about that. Let's move on."

The team of four continued to walk through the Village of Tourmaline. After they passed the last house of the village, they found themselves standing in front of an impressive quartz mine. Numerous tunnels were drilled deep into the rocky mountains. Miners came out of the tunnels busily with carts full of shimmery rocks.

Kakashi knew that the shimmery rocks had to be properly cut and polished before they acquired the semi-transparent appearance typical of quartz. He was impressed by the scale of the quartz mine and the amount of quartz it produced. However, at the same time, he was appalled by its poor setup and inadequate safety measures. For example, the frames that supported the mine were built with wood instead of metal. Also, most of the miners were not wearing any protective gear. Since mining was a major industry in the Land of Quartz, Kakashi was surprised to see the poor facility at the mine.

He was about to share his opinions with the team, but his words were swallowed by a loud rumbling noise that arose suddenly from underneath the ground. It was as if a dragon that had been trapped underground for years suddenly awoke and tried to escape. The sound got louder and louder, and the ground started to shake violently. The four shinobis exchanged an anxious glance with each other, and simultaneously they all hopped back away from the mine to a safety distance.

Suddenly the wooden frames that supported the mine collapsed. Giant rocks began to fall down from the ceiling of the tunnels, blocking most of the entrances. The miners inside frantically rushed out from the entrances that remained open; many of them were carrying other injured people.

"The mine has collapsed!" Everyone was shouting and screaming in a frenzy. It was as if the end of the world had arrived.

Finally the rumbling sound stopped. Without the ground shattering noise, the world almost seemed painfully quiet. Kakashi looked at his teammates, and was glad to see that everyone was safe, even though they all looked a bit pale.

The miners who managed to escape all gathered in front of the collapsed mine. Most of them sat motionlessly on the ground in shock. No one spoke a single word. This was the first mine collapse they experienced in the village. They did not know how to react. Suddenly one of the miners stood up and spoke loudly, "Many people are trapped inside the collapsed tunnels. We need to save them immediately before they run out of air. People who are injured please gather over there. We will send someone to get Kenji-sensei from the village and he will take care of your injuries. People who are not hurt, we will form teams of threes and begin to rescue our friends." He paused to look around, then he began to give out orders. "The three of you, please take a roster of the people present so that we know how many people are trapped inside the tunnels. You three here, please go fetch Kenji-sensei and help him take care of the injured people. You three there, please examine the tunnels on the east side and report how many of them are blocked..."

The man's steadfast demeanor had an uplifting effect on people. One by one the miners stood up from the ground. They all responded to the man's commands with a loud "Yes, Shou-sama" before they carried on their duties in an orderly manner.

"He must be the leader of the village." Kakashi thought. He was very impressed by the man's leadership ability. Not only was he able to remain calm after a disaster, he also quickly came up with an efficient rescue plan. By doing so, he managed to keep his people hopeful and motivated.

Kakashi began to walk towards the village leader and he gestured his team to follow him. As they approached the collapsed mine, the villagers all stared at the team of four with suspicious eyes. Kakashi was right. This village did not welcome strangers, but he ignored the people's unfriendly stares and went straight to their leader.

"Shou-sama." Kakashi acknowledged the leader respectfully. "My name is Hatake Kakashi and this is my team. We are shinobis from the Hidden Village of Konoha in the Land of Fire. We happened to be in the area, and we witnessed the unfortunate incident. We would like to help in the rescue effort, especially since we have two exceptionally skilled medic nins on our team. Please accept our assistance."

Shou was surprised to see the shinobis. He inspected Kakashi and his team carefully with his eyes, searching for any slightest hint of malicious intent, but he could not find any. Every one of them seemed so genuinely eager to help. He considered the situation more, and decided that they would benefit a lot from the shinobis' help. Finally he nodded solemnly and said, "Kakashi-sama, we will gladly take your kind offer."

Kakashi nodded back before he turned around and commanded his team, "Haruka and Sakura, you two take care of the injured villagers. Naruto, you stay with me, we will help Shou-sama to rescue the people trapped inside the tunnels."

Haruka and Sakura immediately went to where the injured miners had gathered. It seemed like there were about seventy of them. Being a medic nin, both girls carried a large supply of bandages and various first aid medications in their backpacks. Sakura saw that a teenage boy standing near her had a nasty cut on his arm. She took out some antiseptic and bandages and said gently to the boy, "Here, let me wash your wound for you."

Unexpectedly, the boy backed away from her and said coldly, "Don't touch me. We don't trust strangers here. Kenji-sensei will be here soon to take care of us. We don't need your help."

Sakura was surprised by the boy's attitude. She said sincerely, "We are not bad people. We just want to help. Your wound needs to be treated as quickly as possible, otherwise you may get an infection." However, just like the old man they saw earlier, the boy snorted loudly and ran away from her. Sakura once again mumbled to herself, "What was that about..."

Haruka looked around the injured people. She noticed that one of them seemed to be suffering from tremendous pain. Blood was oozing out from his nose, and he was having trouble breathing. Haruka immediately realized that his ribs were broken, and the broken bones had punctured his lungs, causing blood to come out from his nose. He was loosing a lot of blood, and his damaged lungs could no longer supply his body with enough oxygen. His life was in danger. Disregarding the villagers' unfriendly stares, Haruka walked promptly to the man. She kneeled down beside him and gathered chakra into her hands. She pressed her hands firmly on the man's chest so that she could use her chakra to stop the bleeding.

One of the villagers let out a small cry when Haruka touched the injured man. He attempted to pull Haruka away from him, but Sakura angrily stopped him. "You idiot, let Haruka-sensei treat him. Can't you see that he's dying?" The villager was about to push Sakura away, but he stopped when he noticed that his friend's bleeding had already slowed down.

"Haruka-sensei! You already have his bleeding under control!" Sakura cheered.

_-- Yes, Sakura, the wounds in his lungs were relatively small, I could stop the bleeding by applying chakra directly over the wounds. Now I need to realign his broken bones. This will hurt a lot, so I'm going to insert three needles into the pressure points on his chest to reduce the pain.--_ Haruka gestured. She drew out three long needles from her pouch and used a small fire jutsu to sterilize the needles before she inserted them into the man. Haruka then used her chakra to gently realign the broken bones. She put on some extra chakra to begin the healing of the broken bones so that they wouldn't go out of alignment again. Finally the man stopped moaning in pain and was once again able to breathe smoothly. Haruka knew that the man's life was saved. She just had to tell Sakura to give him some medication to prevent inflammation.

All the injured villagers had gathered around Haruka and watched the process in awe. They had never seen medical procedures like this. Suddenly, one of the villagers said, "Healer-sama, my friend here had been unconscious for a while. Could you please take a look at him?" Instantly, all the villagers began to shout requests at Haruka. "Healer-sama, my father's shoulder is dislocated. Please help him!" "Healer-sama, my leg is broken!"

Seeing that Haruka had already won the villagers' trust, Sakura smiled with relief. She was proud of her Haruka-sensei as always. In order to better organize the situation, Sakura said to the villagers, "Haruka-sensei and I will look at everyone of you, but we need to treat the more serious injuries first. Please sit down and be patient."

Haruka and Sakura began to examine the patients one by one. Most of the villagers suffered from a broken bone or a few bad scrapes, but there were about twenty-five patients who were in critical conditions. Haruka immediately began to treat them in the order of the severity of their injuries. In most cases she had to use her chakra to stitch up the patient's wounds and to initiate regeneration. Sometimes she needed to massage a patient's heart with her chakra to get the heart beating again. In a few cases, she had to use a sealing jutsu to seal the patient's vital energy back into his body. All these techniques demanded a lot of chakra. Haruka began to feel sick half way through the treatment. After all her body had been weakened by the forbidden substance, and she didn't sleep well the night before. But she couldn't stop. No, she couldn't. These people's lives depended on her. With determination, Haruka took a deep breath to prevent herself from fainting, and moved onto the next patient.

Finally, all of the critical patients had stabilized. Haruka let out a small sigh of relief. She sat down tiredly on the ground and wiped the sweat off her forehead. Suddenly she felt like someone was watching her. Haruka turned around, and found an old man clad in ragged clothing standing behind her.

It was the strange old man they saw in the village earlier.

One of the villagers told Haruka, "That's Kenji-sensei. He's our village doctor. He's very knowledgeable and very well respected in our village."

The old man Kenji turned away and continued to treat a patient's wound as soon as Haruka turned around to look at him. What a strange person, Haruka thought to herself.

While Haruka and Sakura busied themselves with their medical responsibilities, Kakashi and Naruto followed Shou and his men into the collapsed mine. Shou's men had finished the initial investigation. There were about forty-five miners trapped in six different locations, where the fallen rocks had completely blocked the tunnels.

"If we remove these rocks with explosives, we may hurt the people inside because we don't know how much space they have in there." Shou said worriedly. "But if we remove the rocks manually, it will take a long time and they may run out of air inside. I really don't know which one is our best option."

"Shou-sama," Kakashi said helpfully, "I have a method that may work. Please allow us to try it."

Shou looked at Kakashi skeptically, "What do you plan to do?"

"This is somewhat difficult to explain. Please just let us try it. I promise I won't hurt any of your people." Kakashi said sincerely.

Shou thought for a moment and eventually nodded his consent.

Kakashi fished out a stopwatch from his pocket and handed it to Naruto. He gave Naruto some instructions before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

"Kakashi-sensei has transported himself to the inside of the blocked tunnel." Naruto explained to a wide-eyed Shou and his men.

Naruto kept looking at his stopwatch. When the second arm pointed to 30, he said, "Now it's the time -- kage bunshin no jutsu!" With a loud pop, Naruto's shadow clone appeared next to him and immediately began to mold a chakra ball in Naruto's right hand. When the whirlpool of energy was ready, Naruto charged forward at the fallen rocks and screamed, "Rasengan!"

At the same time, Kakashi was performing his one and only one original jutsu inside the blocked tunnel. He concentrated a large amount of chakra on his right hand, so much that his hand began to chirp like a thousand birds together. "Raikiri!" Kakashi screamed as he charged forward as well.

The two huge forces of Rasengan and Raikiri hit the rocks simultaneously. Since the two forces came from exactly opposite direction, they did not create an outward explosion. Instead, the rocks simply shattered into thousands of small pieces. Shou and his men watched in disbelief as they had never seen such power coming from any human body.

Through the shattered rocks, Kakashi could see Naruto's proud big wide grin. "Good job, Naruto. Your Rasengan is almost as strong as my Raikiri." Kakashi then turned to Shou and said, "Shou-sama, this method seems to work well. Let's leave a few of your men here while we move onto the next blockage."

Finally, all the trapped miners were released and all the injured villagers were treated. The sun had begun to set. The four Konoha shinobis found themselves exhausted but in good spirits. Haruka smiled and stood up when she saw Kakashi walking towards her, but her body suddenly collapsed because she had completely used up her chakra. Kakashi hopped forward and caught her before she fell.

He gently put her down next to a tree and fed her some water from his water bottle. He said, "You must be exhausted. Why don't you sit here and recover for a while? I need to help Naruto with something. After that we will leave and find a place to rest for tonight."

Haruka gave him a pale smile and closed her eyes. She was so tired that her body didn't feel like it belonged to her anymore. She wondered where they would spend the night. She could really use a good night of sleep.

"Haruka-san?" A voice brought Haruka's mind back into focus.

Haruka opened her eyes. Kneeling in front of her was Shou, leader of the village. Haruka looked at Shou curiously, wondering what he wanted from her. Suddenly she realized that Shou was a very handsome man. He eyes were bright and sincere, his nose finely chiseled, and his jaw line well defined. He could easily be the most good looking man she had seen in her life.

"Haruka-san," Shou looked at Haruka eagerly. "I need to thank you for everything you've done for us today. Because of your exceptional medical skills, not a single person died today! That's unheard of for a mine collapse of this scale." Shou paused for a moment, searching for the right words to express his feelings, but he failed. No word could possibly describe how grateful he was to the beautiful woman in front of him.

Suddenly Shou took off a necklace from his neck. It was a shiny oval black stone hanging on a delicate silver chain. "This is a rare gemstone called Black Star, it's only found in the Land of Quartz. It forms a four ray star inside when you put it under the sun. See?" Shou rotated the stone slightly so that Haruka could see the four ray star formed under the light of the setting sun. "This necklace used to belong to someone very, very precious to me until she passed away. Since then, I've been wearing it as a memento to remind me of her. This necklace means a lot to me, but I would like to give it to you now, to thank you for saving my people's lives. Our village is poor, there's nothing else I can offer to you to express my gratitude, so please accept it."

Seeing how precious the necklace was to Shou, Haruka frantically shook her hands, indicating that she couldn't accept such a special gift.

Shou insisted, "If you don't take this necklace, you're rejecting the gratitude from the entire village." Disregarding Haruka's silent protest, he proceeded to put the necklace on her neck.

Haruka blushed as Shou's hands touched her skin. In felt strange to be so close to such a handsome man. Instinctively, Haruka shot a quick glance at Kakashi, who was standing not too far away having a lively discussion with Naruto. For reasons she did not understand, Haruka was relieved to see that Kakashi seemed too occupied to have paid any attention to her and Shou.

But was that true? Rumors said that Sharingan Kakashi saw EVERYTHING. Nothing ever escaped the great Sharingan user's eyes. Did he really not see that?

Finally, Shou finished fastening the clasp of the necklace. He took a step back and looked appreciatively at the necklace hanging on Haruka's neck. "The Black Star looks great on you. A beautiful stone like that deserves a beautiful owner like you." Shou said. Haruka blushed again as he complimented her on her beauty.

Haruka lowered her head and looked at the Black Star pendant. It was indeed a lovely stone. She touched the stone gently with her fingertip. It felt smooth and cool. Haruka wondered who the stone's previous owner was and what that person was like.

_-- Thank you.--_ Haruka gestured slowly, hoping that Shou would understand her gestures, and he did.

"This necklace is nothing compared to what you did for us today." Shou smiled genuinely, while looking deeply into Haruka's eyes. Suddenly he asked, "Haruka-san, may I ask if you have ever been to the Land of Quartz before?"

Haruka shook her head. She looked at Shou questioningly.

"Well, if this is your first time to our country, we will need to show you around properly." Shou smiled charmingly. "As for tonight, we have already arranged for the four of you to stay at the village temple. I apologize for not being able to provide better accommodation than that, but I still hope that you will have a good night of sleep as you must be exhausted. One of my men will take you there shortly."

What Shou said sounded perfectly innocent and normal, but the yearning in his eyes gave him away. Haruka could tell that he did not just ask about whether she had been to the Land of Quartz casually. The way he asked... it was as if he had met her before. Also, the old man Kenji and his strange behavior. Why was he shocked to see her earlier? Did she simply remind them of someone they knew? Or did these people actually know something about her past?

Haruka looked at Shou again. She wondered what kind of secrets were hiding behind those bright beautiful eyes.


	8. Jealousy

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

Chapter 8: Jealousy

The four Konoha shinobis effortlessly became everybody's favorite at the Village of Tourmaline over the next few days. Kakashi and Naruto had been helping the villagers to clean up and rebuild the mine so that they could resume mining as soon as possible. "The tax collectors are about to show up." The villagers would explain to them. Lord Ishiguro Yuuta, the dictator ruler of the Land of Quartz, placed heavy taxation on the citizens, the majority of which are miners of quartz and other gemstones.

"Why does the feudal lord need so much money?" Naruto asked.

"Lord Ishiguro is an extremely ambitious man." Replied a middle-aged villager. "Ever since he seized the country twelve years ago, he has been expanding his land by conquering other small countries nearby. I was originally from the Land of Poppy, which was a small country in the east, but Lord Ishiguro took over our country five years ago, and I have been living here since then."

"You said Lord Ishiguro Yuuta seized the country twelve years ago?" Kakashi sounded a bit surprised. "I thought the Ishiguro family has always been the rulers of this country."

"Yes, indeed." An old villager said. He looked around nervously, as if to check for the presence of spies, before he continued. "The Ishiguro family is the royal family of the Land of Quartz. The country used to be ruled by Lord Yuuta's older brother, Lord Kouhei. Lord Kouhei was the best ruler this country has ever seen -- he was kind and fair, intelligent and caring. The country was peaceful and rich during his time." The old man sighed as he remembered the good old days. "However, Lord Kouhei and his family mysteriously perished twelve years ago. Lord Yuuta claimed that everyone in Lord Kouhei's household contracted a highly infectious disease and passed away quickly. But who knows what actually happened. I say Lord Yuuta had probably poisoned his own brother just so he could become the ruler instead."

"Shhhh... old man, I'd keep it down if I were you. You never know whether there's any of Lord Yuuta's spies around." Another villager warned the old man.

Kakashi was fascinated by the story. Lord Ishiguro Yuuta was the employer of his current mission. The feudal lord believed that there were rebels against the country hiding in the Village of Tourmaline, and Kakashi and his team were to find out who the rebels were and to destroy their plans. During the past few days, Kakashi had been stealthily roaming around the village and eavesdropping on the villagers' conversations, but he couldn't find any information about the rebels. None. Nil. Kakashi had began to feel just a bit antsy -- he did not want to break his record of zero failed mission!

Kakashi wanted to probe more at the history of Lord Yuuta. It seemed like his employer was not the best liked character in his own country. However, the villagers exchanged a quick glance with each other and said, "Kakashi-san, it's about time for lunch. Shou-sama has invited all of you to join him for lunch at his residence. Let us take you there."

Kakashi disappointedly swallowed his questions and obediently followed the villagers to Shou's house. He did not want to raise the villagers' suspicion by acting too eager.

As Kakashi and Naruto walked into Shou's house, they only found Sakura at the lunch table.

"Sakura-chan! How are the injured villagers doing today? They must be recovering very quickly under you and Haruka nee-chan's care." Naruto asked cheerfully, before he looked around and realized that Haruka was not there. "Speaking of which, where is nee-chan?"

"I don't know." Sakura shrugged. "Haruka-sensei went off with Shou-sama a while ago. I have no idea where they went." Suddenly they heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door, as well as Shou's loud and warm-hearted laugh. "Ah, that must be them. They're back just in time for lunch."

Shou and Haruka walked into the house. Shou still had a big grin on his face, and Haruka was chuckling at something soundlessly. They seemed to enjoy each other's company. Kakashi noticed that they had been spending a lot of time with each other during the past few days. Somehow the sight of those two together made him feel uncomfortable, even though he had to admit that they looked great together. They were both tall and good-looking. They both had bright and beautiful eyes. They both... seemed to like each other.

"Haruka-sensei, where did you go this morning?" Sakura asked curiously.

-- _I ran out of an herb that promotes wound healing, so Shou-san took me to a place where there are a lot of wild herbs growing and we managed to gather some more._-- Haruka gestured innocently.

"For something simple like that you should have just sent Sakura, instead of running around yourself." Kakashi suddenly snapped sourly. "You haven't been feeling too well lately."

Everyone stared at Kakashi with wide-eyed surprise, especially his genin students. Their Kakashi-sensei had always been calm and cool, sometimes even a bit too indifferent and arrogant. They had never seen him like this before.

Embarrassed by what just came out of his mouth, Kakashi mumbled something like, "I'm not hungry. I'm gonna go for a walk instead. Enjoy your lunch." He turned around and left the house quickly, escaping from everyone's concerned stares.

The slight breeze felt cool against his masked burning face. "What was up with me." Kakashi shook his head tiredly. Yeah, what was up with him back there? Why did he make that rude comment? Haruka was her own person. She could do whatever she liked and it would be none of his business. That Shou... he seemed like a nice guy anyway. Smart, handsome, fun, easygoing. It would only be natural for Haruka to like him. He, Kakashi, should not be overly protective of her.

That was right! He was only being overly protective of Haruka, that was why he got upset back there. Damn Obito. Kakashi cursed Obito for ingraining the "protecting your comrades with your life" idea into his head, making him act like a protective father to his comrades. He'd better watch out and not act like that when Sakura started to date someone as well.

For the moment, Kakashi had successfully convinced himself that he had not developed any feelings for his beautiful comrade, and that he was not jealous to see her getting along with another guy. For the moment, Kakashi happily immersed himself in his little world of denial. He even began to look around and appreciate the scenery around him. He just noticed that his aimless wandering had led him away from the village and into the mountainous reign nearby.

Kakashi had always been an observant person. His shrewd eyes constantly picked up anything noteworthy in his surroundings. Old habits as a seasoned shinobi, he would explain to people. Even now, when he was just strolling down the mountain road leisurely, he noticed small things such as the swift movement of a mountain goat fifty paces to his east, the yellowish brown color of the lichen that covered the rock's surface, and the sharp call of a bird up in the sky. To his left was a deep boulder crack that seemed to extend all the way into the heart of the mountain.

As soon as Kakashi laid his eyes on the crack, he noticed something strange. The grasses in front of the crack were more sparse and flat compared to the surrounding area, indicating that they were frequently stepped on, either by people or animals. Kakashi also found a tiny piece of fabric hanging on a small branch next to the crack. It almost looked like the fabric was accidentally torn from someone's clothes when the person tried to go into the crack.

Why would anyone want to go into the crack? Kakashi wondered. He looked down the crack, but found nothing other than darkness. Kakashi inspected the width of the crack carefully -- it did seem wide enough for him to squeeze through sideway.

Kakashi decided to investigate this further. He pulled out a kunai from his weapon pouch and stepped into the crack sideway, leading with the kunai-holding hand. After merely ten paces, he was completely surrounded by darkness. As the crack became narrower and narrower, Kakashi wondered if he could actually proceed any further without breaking his ribs. He paused to assess his surroundings carefully. Hmm... there seemed to be a tiny spot of light further down the crack. It was difficult to judge distance in the darkness, but it looked like it wouldn't be farther than twenty paces ahead.

Might as well go and check it out... Kakashi told himself. He sucked in his rib cage, empathizing with the pain that women had to go through to put on their corsets, and forced his way further into the crack. The crack began to widen after another five paces or so. Soon Kakashi was able to walk normally, facing the front. The spot of light became bigger and bigger as he walked. Suddenly, a huge clearing appeared in front of Kakashi. He looked up and saw the sky. He was outside of the mountain!

Kakashi looked around cautiously to make sure that he was in no immediate danger of any kind. The crack had apparently led him to a little valley that was surrounded by the rest of the mountain range. It seemed like the crack was the only entrance to this secret place. The area was quite large. It could probably fit fifty people without getting too crowded.

Everything here looked normal, until Kakashi noticed an unnatural looking piece of stone standing behind a tree. The stone piece was rectangular in shape, and it came up to about his waist. As Kakashi walked closer, he realized in surprise that it was actually an impressive piece of tombstone. The tombstone was very well kept, and there were flowers and offerings in front of it, indicating that someone visited here frequently. The engraving on the tombstone was simple; it only said "In memory of Lord Ishiguro Kouhei and his wife, Kaede-hime."

Lord Ishiguro Kouhei? Kakashi quickly associated the name with the story he heard from the villagers this morning. Lord Kouhei was the former feudal lord of the Land of Quartz, and the older brother of Lord Yuuta. He and his family had supposedly contracted some infectious disease and passed away. But if that was the case, why was his graveyard hidden in such a strange location? He and his wife should have been buried at the royal cemetery.

Well, there could only be one answer, Kakashi thought. It must be just like the old villager said, Lord Kouhei and his family did not perish from a disease. His own brother, Lord Yuuta, must have murdered him in order to seize the country. After the feudal lord's death, his faithful followers -- most likely former retainers and warriors, fled to this small village and hid their identities, waiting for a chance to rebel against the new feudal lord.

Kakashi ran the theory though his head several times. He could not find any flaws to the argument. He knew he had to be right. The only questions left were, who among the villagers were involved with the rebels, and what were they planning? Kakashi thought of Shou. He was the leader of the village after all. Was he part of the rebellion force? Kakashi investigated the area further, but he could not find any more useful information. Slowly the sun began to set. By the time he got back to the village, the sky was already dark.

Kakashi went back to the little temple in the Village of Tourmaline that he and his team had been staying for the past few days. No one was in the temple. Kakashi wondered where his team was. He'd like to share the information he gathered today with them. Well, perhaps he'd just rest and relax a bit before they came back. Kakashi turned on the light, sat himself down comfortably on one of the chairs, and pulled out a little orange book from his vest. The Icha Icha series had always been his favorite way to unwind after a long, tiring day.

He was getting into a particular juicy part of the story when he heard the sound of footsteps. He looked up and saw the heroine from his book walking into the temple. Kakashi blushed guiltily -- he had been subconsciously casting this particular person as his favorite character of the story.

Haruka sat down quietly next to Kakashi. Before he could say anything, she gestured sweetly to him _-- I'm sorry I made you worry today.--_

Kakashi shook his head. "No, I'm the one who needs to apologize. I was being very rude and immature... sorry about that comment I made."

There was an awkward pause between the two. Kakashi was searching for something to say, but Haruka beat him to it.

_-- So... I've been wanting to ask you something.--_ She gestured hesitantly.

"What is it?" Kakashi thought he knew what she was going to ask.

_-- It seems like you have been...--_ Haruka paused, not sure of her choice of word. _-- avoiding me during the past few days.-- _She looked at Kakashi's face carefully, making sure that she was not upsetting him.

"Well," Kakashi scratched the back of his head. He was embarrassed by he what he was about to say, but he thought he might as well tell the truth. He said in a low voice, "I see that you and Shou have been getting along quite well. I just don't want to... don't want to get in the way."

Suddenly Haruka chuckled. She seemed to be relieved, if anything.

Kakashi was a bit annoyed. "Was it that funny?"

Still with a smile on her face, Haruka slowly shook her head. _-- It's true that I have been spending a lot of time with Shou, but it's only because I think he and the old man Kenji may know something about my past.-- _Haruka told Kakashi the suspicion that she had.

"Did you find out about anything?" Kakashi asked, but Haruka shook her head disappointedly. _-- I think I only look like someone they used to know, that's it.--_

Kakashi felt disappointed for her too. He knew that orphans often had a strong desire to learn about their past, to find out who their parents were, and why they were abandoned.

Suddenly Haruka gestured again. _--Well, speaking of getting along...--_ She lowered her head shyly, intentionally avoiding Kakashi's eyes. She gestured with the sweetest little smile on her face. _-- I thought you and I have been getting along pretty well too, no?--_

Kakashi began to blink quickly. What did she mean? What was she trying to say? Well she was using his vocabulary. When he said that she and Shou were "getting along", he really meant that he thought they liked each other. Now when A equaled B, and B equaled C, then A must equal C. Basic laws of logic. If "getting along" equaled "liking", or "having feelings for", or "casting each other as the hero/heroine of the Icha Icha series", then when Haruka said that she thought Kakashi and herself had been "getting along pretty well", she meant that...

No, that couldn't be true. What would she see in him, a masked weirdo whose biggest hobby was reading some perverted novels? Kakashi secretly compared himself to Shou. He was not as handsome as Shou, not as tall as him, not as muscular as him, not as charming as him... well the list could go on and on.

On the other hand, what if she really meant what he thought she meant? Kakashi took another glance at Haruka. Her long downcast eyelashes were fluttering on her face like a couple of naughty butterflies. Her smooth skin was glowing with a slight hint of pink. She was biting her lower lips lightly, as if she was waiting impatiently for him to do something. Damn, she was cute.

And... was she expecting him to... kiss her? It was true that Kakashi had had his fair share of women in his life, but they were mostly one night stands, at most bed buddies. He had never let himself fallen for anyone, for fear of getting hurt, or hurting others. In other words, he was a beginner in this business of love.

Kakashi decided that he had nothing to lose. He would at most get a slap in his face if she felt offended by him. Well... to kiss a girl... to kiss a girl... first he needed to pull down his mask. Kakashi slowly reached his hand up towards his mask. The air felt tense. It almost seemed like there were tiny currents of electricity floating in the air...

"Kakashi-sensei! Haruka nee-chan! You're both back!" Konoha's number one loudest and hyperactive ninja stormed into the little temple together with his pink-haired companion.

Kakashi put down his hand and sighed inwardly. The tiny currents in the air were gone. He stole a glance at Haruka. She was still smiling good-naturedly, but Kakashi thought she looked a bit disappointed.

Stupid Naruto. Stupid mask. Stupid... stupid him. Kakashi silently cursed himself and his indecisiveness. Oh well, there would be another chance. He looked at Haruka again, who was looking at him at the same time. They exchanged a knowing yet embarrassing smile.

"Since everyone is here," Kakashi looked at all of his teammates. "I have a very important discovery to share with all of you."

Team seven spent the rest of the evening discussing and planning their mission.


	9. Poison master vs poison master

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

Chapter 9: Poison master vs poison master

There was blood everywhere. Blood on the wall. Blood on the floor. Blood on the elegant paintings. Blood on the antique couch. Even the air reeked of the heavy stench of blood. A little girl stood in the middle of the blood drenched room. She seemed so small and helpless. She was clutching a doll tightly to her chest. A blood stained doll.

There were several other men in the room. They were standing there, talking to each other, laughing. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. Their clothes were stained with blood, but they didn't seem to mind the slightest. One of them turned to look at the little girl. He had a surprisingly pleasant face, but somehow the sight of his face made the little girl shudder.

"What a lovely sight." He said to her. "I hope you are enjoying this as much as I do."

Suddenly the little girl started to scream. She screamed and she screamed. She could contain her fears no more. She had to scream.

Haruka saw the little girl. She wanted to save her from the horror. She wanted to hold her in her arms and tell her that everything would be fine. Haruka tried to walk towards the little girl, but her body would not move, as if it was pinned down by an invisible force. Haruka tried again. _I had to save the girl,_ she told herself. She kept struggling against the invisible force. _I had to save her,_ she thought, and she kept struggling, she kept struggling...

Haruka sat up from her sleeping bag with a jerk, panting and sweat drenched. Her heart was beating very fast, any faster it would be jumping out from her mouth. Her body was shaking with fear and frustration... and pain. This nightmare was no stranger to her. It had been haunting her since her childhood. It was the same dream every time. The same blood drenched room. The same little girl. The same man with the same pleasant face. Yet it never got any easier. It always left her in pain. It left her in so much pain that only one thing in the world could make her feel better.

Haruka's eyes fell onto her backpack.

Inside her backpack, there was a small bottle that contained a magical substance that would instantly make her feel a lot better.

Kakashi threw away one bottle of her forbidden substance on their way to the Land of Quartz. Kakashi did not know that Haruka had another bottle sitting safely inside her backpack.

With trembling hands, Haruka slowly reached into her backpack and fished out the bottle of innocent looking white fluid. One shot of the fluid into her bloodstream would take her to Nirvana. It would make all the pains go away. Everything would be fine again. Just one shot of the fluid.

Haruka held the bottle in her right hand and extended her left hand into her backpack to look for a syringe. Her fingertips battled off an assortment of bottles and medical supplies in the bag, and finally came into contact with the smooth plastic surface of a syringe. She hastily took out the syringe, but it slipped out of her sweaty palm and landed on the floor.

The syringe quickly rolled away on the smooth stone floor of the temple. Haruka frantically chased after it on her knees. She almost caught it in her hand, but her body froze -- the syringe had stopped right next to Kakashi, who was sound asleep in his sleeping bag on the floor.

Suddenly, the image of Kakashi's unmasked face flashed through Haruka's mind. The good looking face that smiled at her and promised her that he would save her from the forbidden substance. The good looking face that gave her new faith in herself and the world.

Without further consideration, Haruka's left hand quickly took out a long needle from her weapon pouch and stabbed it into her right wrist with determination. She gasped in pain as the needle went deeply into her own wrist, and she let go of the bottle. She pulled the needle out, kicked the bottle into the far corner of the temple, and simply collapsed onto the floor.

She held her knees tight to her chest, as if that would make her pain go away. She started to sing herself a song in her head. The song that Kakashi sang for her when he held her in his arms to comfort her. Her body was trembling with pain, but no, no she would not give in to the forbidden substance. She would not give in.

After what felt like eternity, Haruka's body stopped trembling. She slowly relaxed, sat up, and wiped the sweat off her face. She looked out of the window. The full moon was shining brightly outside. It was still the middle of the night.

Haruka looked around. Everybody was sound asleep. She gently massaged her wrist as it still hurt from the needle, but she felt like she had won a triumphant battle against her weak self. Kakashi would be proud of her. She was glad that she didn't wake him up during this ordeal. She didn't want him to see her in that state.

But... wait a minute. Something was wrong. Haruka looked at Kakashi suspiciously. She was sure that she generated a lot of noises when she dropped the syringe. There was no way a top caliber shinobi like Kakashi would sleep through that. Something was wrong.

Haruka hurried to Kakashi and pulled down his mask to test his breathing. She also felt his pulse and looked under his eyelid. Haruka gasped as she realized that Kakashi had been drugged. He was currently in an unnatural state of deep sleep, although there was no immediate life danger. Naruto and Sakura were the same too.

What happened? Haruka asked herself. When and how were they drugged? Why, on the other hand, was she not drugged? She looked around, trying to find some clues. She opened Kakashi's water bottle and took a small sip -- no, the water was clean. She examined the food that Sakura and Naruto snacked on before they went to bed. There was nothing abnormal in it either.

In order to counteract the effect of the drug, Haruka needed to know its chemical composition. Sure she could administer a mixture of generic antidotes to her teammates, but she would be taking a chance. What should she do?

Suddenly, Haruka caught a faint scent in the air. The temple had always smelled like incense because the villagers burned fresh incense every evening for the gods they worshipped. She had already gotten used to the smell. However, right now there was another scent hiding underneath the strong aroma of the incense. It was very faint. She wouldn't have caught it if she weren't looking for it.

Haruka walked towards the incense holder. The incense sticks were lighted hours ago, and were completely burnt by now. She picked up one of the stubs and smelled it carefully. The strange smell was indeed from the incense. Haruka broke off a tiny piece from the stub, rubbed it into powder, and licked the powder off her hand cautiously. Slowly a smile crept onto her face. She had the answer to the mystery.

The drug was a mild sedative extracted from a plant. It was mixed into the incense so that the chemical would evaporate when the incense was burnt, and anyone who smelled the smoke from the incense would fall into deep sleep. This drug was occasionally prescribed to patients who suffered from insomnia. Its chemical structural was similar to the forbidden substance, albeit not nearly as potent. Haruka's body had built up immunity against the forbidden substance, hence a much milder form of the chemical could not affect her at all.

Haruka breathed a sigh of relief as she knew that her teammates were safe. She went back to Kakashi, grabbed a sniffing bottle from her backpack, pulled down Kakashi's mask again and put the bottle underneath his nose. A pungent smell immediately filled his nostrils. Kakashi sneezed loudly and woke up, looking very confused. He was just having a very nice dream. One that might have involved the beautiful lady kneeling in front of him.

"Haruka... what's happening?" Kakashi rubbed his eyes, his head was feeling very heavy.

Haruka showed him the incense stub and explained what happened to him.

"Do you think we were drugged during the past few nights as well?" Kakashi asked after some consideration.

Haruka shook her head. _--I don't think so. Even though the smell was subtle, I would still have noticed it if they had been using it.-- _She gestured.

"Assuming that the rebels are the ones who drugged us," Kakashi said thoughtfully. "it can only mean that they are doing something very important tonight that they absolutely do not want us to find out." Kakashi began to tie his weapon pouch onto his belt. "I'm going to find out what they're up to."

_--I'm coming with you.--_ Haruka went to collect her weapons as well, but Kakashi grabbed her arm and stopped her. He examined her face closely. This beautiful face seemed particularly pale tonight. Her lips were almost translucent, and dark circles lurked underneath those expressive eyes.

"You don't look well at all. You should just stay here and rest." Kakashi said firmly.

_--No, I'm coming with you.--_ Haruka insisted stubbornly. _--They have a skilled poison user with them. This is the evidence.--_ She waved the incense stub in her hand at Kakashi. _--I need to come with you, to make sure that you are safe.--_

Kakashi looked at Haruka with a perplexed look on his face. Haruka wondered if she had upset him by implying that he was incompetent against a poison user's attack.

Suddenly Kakashi laughed. "You know, Haruka, this is the first time you ever disagree with me."

Haruka blushed. _ --I don't mean to argue with you. I just don't want you to get hurt. Poisons are... tricky.--_

"No no no, I don't mean it as a bad thing." Kakashi said gently. "What I meant to say is, I think it's great that you no longer try to please everyone by being overly agreeable. You finally let your own personality and opinions shine through. I'm glad." Not to mention that she looked awfully cute when she pursed her lips stubbornly.

Haruka cast her eyes down and smiled shyly. _ --So... does that mean I get to come with you?-- _

"Only if you put this on." Kakashi took off his Jounin vest and put it on Haruka. "It's rather cold outside."

The pair left quietly, leaving Naruto and Sakura asleep in the temple. They reasoned that since their enemies used such a harmless drug on them, they had absolutely no intention to hurt anyone, and thus it would be safe to leave the two genins in the temple by themselves.

Kakashi and Haruka stealthily weaved through the dark alleys of the village, looking for the slightest sign of suspicion. Suddenly Kakashi said, "Bingo!" He pointed at a house in front of them. It was the only lighted building in the area. "That makes it easy." He said happily. "Under the roof or under the window, your choice." Haruka smiled at him, hopped up, twirled and hanged herself upside down under the roof in one swift motion. "What a show off." Kakashi muttered under his breath, crouched down under the window, and peered inside.

There were about eighty people sitting in the lighted room. To their surprise, Kakashi and Haruka could recognize everyone in there -- they were all people from the village, including Shou and Kenji, and they seemed to be having a meeting.

"Is everyone clear on the plan for next week?" Shou asked.

Everyone nodded, except for one of the villagers, who raised his hand and said, "Shou-sama, the plan sounds good, but what about those ninjas from Konoha? What are we going to do with them?"

"Exactly." Kenji shot Shou an angry look. "If it weren't for Shou-sama, I would have killed those ninjas tonight instead of just sedating them. According to our spy, Ishiguro Yuuta sent them here to specifically find out about us and our plans. They are a threat to us."

Haruka and Kakashi exchanged a look. Neither of them was surprised to find out that Kenji was the poison user. He was a doctor after all. However, Kakashi wondered about the spy that they mentioned. He himself caught a spy in Lord Ishiguro Yuuta's castle not too long ago. Did the rebels send another spy in already? That would have been nearly impossible as Lord Ishiguro Yuuta heightened the security around the castle after they caught the last spy.

Shou was annoyed at Kenji's comment, but he kept his grace and said patiently, "As Kenji-sensei said, the Konoha shinobis are sedated tonight, so they won't find out about this meeting. I do realize that they are sent by Yuuta, but I simply cannot order them to be killed." Shou paused for a moment. "After all, many of us here owe them our lives and our family's lives.

Shou's words generated echoes of agreement in the room.

Kenji shot Shou a resentful look. He said darkly, "Shou-sama, is it possible that you are being unnecessarily kind to the shinobis because you are in love with the pretty girl?"

To Kenji's surprise, Shou did not deny the accusation. He merely sighed and said quietly, " I don't know whether it's love or not. Love is too much of a luxury for someone in my position. I only know that I enjoy spending time with her. Kenji-sensei, you should know very well who that girl reminds me of."

"I have already forgotten about that person." Kenji remarked dryly.

Shou said mournfully, "Kenji-san, you can't possibly have forgotten about her. She used to be your favorite."

"I don't remember. It was a long time ago." Kenji turned his face away so that Shou would not see the pained expression on his face. "All I care about now is for us to avenge the death of your family, and to seize back the country that is rightfully yours."

To avenge the death of the family… and to seize back the country… suddenly all the puzzle pieces clicked together. Haruka caught Kakashi's eyes and gestured excitedly. _ --Shou is the son of Lord Ishiguro Kouhei! --_ Kakashi nodded. He had come to the same conclusion himself. This would explain everything, including why the former feudal lord Ishiguro Kouhei and his wife were buried in a remote, secretive location instead of the royal cemetery.

The conversation continued inside the house.

Kenji softened his voice. He padded Shou on his shoulders in a fatherly manner. "This is our only chance to kill Yuuta and get the country back. Look at the people here." He pointed at one of the villagers. "He used to be Lord Kouhei's Chief Advisor." Kenji pointed to another villager. "He used to be a General." Then he pointed at himself. "And I, I used to be the physician of the royal family. All of us have been hiding in this pathetic little village for the past twelve years. Why? Because we want to make sure that we raise you into a capable man who can avenge your father and restore the country to what it used to be."

Shou lowered his head, quietly accepting the heavy weight that fate had dropped upon him.

Kenji continued, "This is our great chance. You were the one who came up with the ingenious idea of sending two spies into Yuuta's castle simultaneously and having one of them caught by the Konoha shinobi intentionally. No one ever suspects the other spy, and we have been getting great information from him." Kakashi felt both impressed and ashamed of himself for being fooled by the double spy trick.

Kenji then turned to face the rest of the room and said, "Everyone, there is no better chance to kill Yuuta than next week. He will be coming to a festival in a nearby village, away from his heavily guarded castle. We will kill him here, then bring his head to the capital and attack the castle in order to regain control of the country."

Kenji's words excited everyone in the room. Some of the people began to chant: "Kill Yuuta! Regain control of the country! Kill Yuuta! Regain control of the country!"

Kenji smiled a triumphant smile. He raised his arms to quiet the people. He turned back to Shou and said, "Everyone here relies on you to lead us to victory. This is a dangerous battle. We will either win or die. There is no room for errors. We have to kill the Konoha shinobis, even if the girl looks just like... her." He refused to say the name because he knew that it would be too painful to do so.

Finally Shou gave in. He said, "Kenji-sensei, please kill the four shinobis from Konoha on our behalf, and please... use the quickest and most painless poison. After all, many of us here owe them our lives..." He buried his face in his hands painfully.

Kenji nodded solemnly. "I will use the poison that I invented. I will go now."

Kakashi and Haruka exchanged a worried look with each other and simultaneously hopped out from their hiding place to hurry back to the temple, where Naruto and Sakura were still sleeping.


	10. The cruelty of fate

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

Chapter 10: The cruelty of fate

Kakashi and Haruka ran as fast as they possibly could. They needed to go back to the temple before Kenji got there. They talked and gestured to each other while they ran. By the time they reached the temple, they already came up with a plan to battle Kenji and his poison.

Sakura and Naruto were still in a state of drug-induced sleep. Haruka woke them up with the sniffing bottle and Kakashi explained the situation to them briefly. They immediately began to prepare for Kenji's arrival. They finished the preparation just when Kenji appeared at the door of the temple.

Kenji looked inside the temple. He could see the four Konoha shinobis fast asleep in their sleeping bags on the floor. "Just as I expected." He said to himself. He walked up to Kakashi, not even bothering to soften this footsteps. He took out a small bottle from his pocket, opened the cap, and a sweet almond smell immediately filled the air. Kenji placed a few drops of the fluid directly into Kakashi's mouth. Within minutes, blood as black as tar began to drip down from Kakashi's mouth. His body twitched painfully for a few moments before it laid completely still again.

Kenji repeated the procedure on Naruto and Sakura. He watched both of them twitch in pain with his emotionless face. Finally he kneeled down next to Haruka. He stared at her face for a long time, still amazed at its resemblance to the girl who he once loved. For the first time tonight he hesitated. What if... just what if she was really her? Kenji shook the thought out of his head. That was impossible. The other girl died a long time ago. The woman in front of his eyes was merely one of life's cruel little jokes. Kenji opened the bottle again and dropped the fluid into Haruka's mouth with his steady hands. Very soon the pretty girl was as dead as her comrades.

"Sorry you have to die," Kenji said to Haruka's dead body softly. "but I cannot let anything ruin our plan." Finally he got up and left the temple.

The morning sun began to creep into the temple and shine on the dead bodies as the night faded away. Suddenly all of the dead bodies disappeared into thin air with a pop. Kakashi, Haruka, Sakura and Naruto walked out from their hiding places, as alive as they could be.

"How was my kage bunshin and henge???" Naruto bragged with a big grin on his face.

"You are fantastic as usual." Kakashi padded him on the shoulder. "But your shadow clones would have died and disappeared in front of Kenji's eyes if Haruka didn't predict what poison Kenji would use and gave your clones the antidote beforehand."

"Not to mention the fake blood that Haruka-sensei made." Sakura added.

"That stuff was nasty." Naruto could still taste the fake blood in his mouth. "I'm going to make Kenji and Shou pay back for trying to kill us." He said with vehement.

Sakura noticed that Haruka lowered her head uncomfortably at Naruto's comment. She said, "Haruka-sensei, is there something you want to say?"

_-- Well... --_ Haruka gestured hesitantly, expecting her teammates to disagree with her, but somehow she felt like she had to voice her opinions. _-- in a way I understand how Shou and Kenji felt... I think I would do exactly the same thing if I were in Kenji's position. After all, Yuuta murdered Shou's family in order to seize the country. A revenge... is the only logical next step... -- _

Kakashi placed a hand understandingly on Haruka's shoulder. "Haruka," he said, "we are shinobis. Our job is to finish the missions assigned to us. We are in no position to judge our clients, or get emotionally involved with our missions."

Haruka nodded, without saying anything more. This was her first real mission after all. She supposed she would get used to the cruel way of ninja eventually.

"Kakashi-sensei." Sakura broke the silence. "Now that Kenji thinks that we are dead, what do we do?"

Kakashi thought for a moment. "The four of us alone cannot battle off a whole village of rebels, especially since they plan to attack Yuuta at a festival, where there will be a lot of innocent people around. We will need to call for backup from Konoha." He looked at his teammates one by one, mentally analyzing everyone's abilities. "Naruto and Sakura, you two immediately go back to Konoha and ask Tsunade-sama for backup. Haruka and I will follow Shou and Kenji. Konoha is only a day and a half away from here. It will take you no more than three to four days to come back. By the time you come back the rebels will have left for the festival, so meet us at the Village of Tanzanite." Kakashi pointed out the location of the village on the map.

Kakashi then summoned his nin-dog Pakkun. "Take Pakkun with you, he will take you to us when you come back."

Naruto and Sakura immediately gathered their belongings and left for Konoha.

During the next two days, Kakashi and Haruka spent their time spying on Shou and Kenji. Together, they found out all the details of Shou's plan, including the exact time and location of the assassination. "We sure work well together as a team." One night, Kakashi said to Haruka before they went to bed. Haruka smiled shyly and replied,_ -- I wish we can fight side by side like this for the rest of our lives.-- _

Kakashi smiled brightly. "Yes, we will fight side by side next to each other in battles for the rest of our lives." He reached out and took her hand into his palm. Was it another perfect-for-kissing moment? He wondered, but he decided that he didn't want their first kiss to take place in the middle of a mission. When they went back to Konoha, he would properly ask her out. He would take her to a romantic dinner, then for a walk in the woods, and then he would kiss her. Kakashi had it all planned out.

The rebels left for the Village of Tanzanite two days after Naruto and Sakura left. Kakashi and Haruka quietly followed behind them. They reached their destination in slightly less than half a day. The Village of Tanzanite was much bigger than the Village of Tourmaline. It was almost the size of a small city, with streets filled with merchants who eagerly tried to sell their goods and shoppers who eagerly tried to bargain for a good price. The villagers were busily preparing for the festival. Colorful lanterns were being hung on the houses, and street stalls were being set up for various snack vendors and carnival games.

The rebels disguised themselves as merchants and scattered throughout the village. Shou and Kenji spent the afternoon wandering around aimlessly, mentally preparing themselves for the assassination tomorrow, absolutely unaware of the fact that they were being followed by two skillful Konoha shinobis.

As they leisurely strolled down the street, a commotion ahead caught their attention. Pedestrians on the busy street quickly parted to the sides and gave way to a group of soldiers. "Lord Yuuta is here!" The crowd exclaimed. Shou gave Kenji a slight pull and the two of them slipped into a side alley. Kakashi and Haruka followed suit and hid themselves in a different alley.

A group of about ten soldiers marched by. In the center of the group was Lord Ishiguro Yuuta and a few of his followers. Lord Yuuta looked around the well decorated village contentedly. He turned to his followers and said, "What a lovely sight. I hope you are enjoying this as much as I do." Lord Yuuta had a surprisingly pleasant looking face.

Haruka froze in horror as soon as she saw his face. She had seen the man before. In fact, she had seen him countless times in her dreams, standing in a blood stained room, taunting a helpless little girl with the exact same words.

What was happening? Why was Lord Yuuta in her dreams? Who was that little girl?

Suddenly, Haruka felt like an explosion went off inside her head. Ancient hidden memories were unearthed, filling her head with images of people and places that she used to know. The new images danced around madly in her head, and old memories continued to resurface. Haruka felt like her head was about to split in half. She squatted down painfully and cradled her head with her arms.

Kakashi looked at Haruka worriedly. People on the street had gradually resumed their activities as Lord Yuuta and his soldiers disappeared at the end of the street. Kakashi could see Shou and Kenji leaving their hiding place, ready to move on.

Kakashi said gently to Haruka, "What's the matter? Are you not feeling well?"

As if cued by Kakashi's words, Haruka suddenly let out the sharpest and loudest scream that made everyone on the street turn around to look at her. Shou and Kenji were visibly shocked to see the two supposedly dead shinobis, but Kakashi did not even bother to keep an eye on them. He simply stared at Haruka in disbelief.

Haruka was... screaming? How was that possible? Wasn't she born mute?

Kakashi squatted down next to Haruka. Her face was contorting in pain. He could see droplets of sweat forming on her forehead. Impulsively, Kakashi threw his arms around Haruka and held her tightly against his chest. He said to the screaming woman softly, "It's ok, everything's ok, I'm here, I won't let anyone hurt you, I won't let anything bad happen to you." He whispered in her ear. "I will protect you for the rest of my life, it's a shinobi's promise."

Kakashi could feel Haruka responding to his words. Gradually she began to calm down. She stopped screaming, and she let her body relax into his arms. Kakashi continued to pat her consolingly, until he felt someone approaching them. He looked up. It was Shou and Kenji.

"Yo." Kakashi forced a casual smile onto his masked face. "Fancy running into the two of you here."

Kenji gave him a bitter grunt, but Shou looked worriedly at Haruka and said, "What happened to her? Is she ok? Was it really her... screaming... just now?"

Kakashi shook his head. He didn't know the answers to his questions. He looked at the woman in his arms. Her eyes were closed. Kakashi wondered if she had fainted. He gently touched her face and said, "Haruka, are you alright?"

Haruka slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was scattered and confused. She looked around and saw Kakashi, who was looking at her concernedly with his sole visible eye. Haruka gave him a bleak smile, then her eyes fell upon Shou and Kenji, and an intricate expression crept onto her face. It was a mixture of yearning, fear, happiness and disbelief.

She opened her mouth as if she was trying to speak, but no sound came out at first. She tried again, working her vocal cords as hard as she could. Finally she managed to form words. The pronunciation was a little off, but it was clear enough to be recognized. She looked at Shou and said with trembling lips, "Shou ni-chan..."

Shou's body visibly shook. He stared at her with wide opened eyes. "What did you just call me?"

"Ni-chan..." Haruka's face blossomed into a bright and beautiful smile. "... my brother, I'm so glad to see that you're alive. And you too," She turned to Kenji. "Jiji-sama."

Kenji's knees collapsed and he kneeled down on the ground involuntarily as Haruka addressed him with a secret nickname that only a certain little girl knew. But he was so sure that the little girl was dead. He shook his head repeatedly, "That's impossible. That's impossible. You can't possibly be..."

"Shiori!" Shou shouted excitedly. He walked up to Haruka and studied her face closely. "You are Shiori! You are my baby sister Shiori!"

Haruka nodded. She repeated his words joyfully. "Yes, I'm Shiori, I'm your baby sister Shiori." Tears began to form in her eyes. She tried to get up. Kakashi gave her a little lift on her elbows to help her get onto her feet.

Haruka looked at Shou, shyly at first, and then she smiled a teary smile and threw herself into his open arms. "Ni-chan, I'm so glad that I remember you now. For a very long time I could not remember anything, but it all came back to me now, after I saw Uncle Yuuta's face." She said quickly, choking on her tears occasionally, but her speech was much smoother now that she had had some practice, though her voice was still a bit shaky.

"Don't call that monster Uncle." Kenji spat angrily onto the ground as he got back up onto his feet as well. "He was no longer part of the family the moment he murdered his own brother."

Kakashi stepped back from the group and observed the family reunion quietly. He looked at Shou and Haruka. He noticed for the first time that the two actually looked very alike, especially those large almond shape eyes and the thin lips. He wondered why he didn't see that before. There was no question that they were siblings. That would mean that Haruka was the daughter of the late Lord Ishiguro Kouhei, and the princess of the Land of Quartz.

Shou held Haruka tightly in his arms, as if she would disappear into thin air if he let go of her. "Thank Heavens you are still alive." He said, tears began to roll down his cheeks as well. "And thank Heavens we didn't actually kill you." He shot an accusing look at Kenji, who looked away guiltily. Shou returned his gaze onto Haruka and he saw the Black Star necklace on her neck. "Shiori, this necklace used to belong to you when you were a child, now fate has returned it into your hand." He stroked her hair lovingly and asked. "What happened to you during the massacre? Where have you been all these years?"

Haruka quickly searched her memories. Her brain was still a bit overwhelmed by all the new memories. She scanned through images after images in her head, looking for a particular piece of memory. The memory of what happened on that fateful day twelve years ago.

It was a fine summer day. She was still an innocent little girl. She liked sweets, and she liked birds. Kenji, the royal physician, happened to know a lot about birds, so the two of them would often go on little outings in the woods and Kenji the old man would tell her everything about the birds they saw.

They had just come back from a particularly fun outing today. Kenji was carrying the little princess in his arms, simply because he enjoyed spoiling her. However, as soon as they entered the castle, where the Ishiguro family lived, a group of soldiers rushed out, seized the princess from Kenji's arms, and separated the old man and the little girl forcibly.

Haruka remembered being carried to the living room, where her uncle Yuuta, the brother of her father, brutally murdered her parents in front of her very own eyes. "What a lovely sight." Her uncle said to her. "I hope you are enjoying this as much as I do." The little girl began to scream uncontrollably. She did not know murders could happen on a fine summer day like this.

Suddenly, one of her father's followers came out from nowhere, grabbed the princess in his arms and immediately escaped by jumping out of the window. He ran and ran, dodging arrows and random attacks from Yuuta's men along the way. Miraculously, he made it all the way to the back side of the castle, where the kitchen and the servant's quarter were. He opened a little door that the maids used as an entrance. He said, "Run away, my little princess, run away as fast as you can."

The princess looked at the man with her bright blue eyes. "Aren't you coming with me?" She asked. "No, my princess, I'm afraid I can't." The man smiled weakly, blood was dripping down the corner his mouth. It was then when she saw the arrow that was stuck deeply into his back.

The man gave the princess another push. "Quick, my princess, run as far as you can. Yuuta's men don't know about this route. You should be safe. But just in case, even if you run into anyone, don't say a word to them, Yuuta will be searching for you, so don't tell anyone about who you are. Don't say a single word." Then the man collapsed into his glorious death with a smile. He had proven his loyalty to Lord Kouhei by protecting the princess with his life. His last words deeply imprinted in the horrified little girl's mind.

"I had not spoken a single word since that day." Haruka told her brother. "I ran and I ran. When I could no longer run, I walked, and when I could no longer walk, I crawled on my hands and knees. I was scared, I was hungry, I was tired, but I kept crawling. Finally a retired medic nin from the Hidden Village of Konoha found me in the forest. He took me in, fed me and treated my wounds. I spent many days living in utter confusion after that. By the time I felt alright again, I could no longer remember who I was." Haruka shivered as she relived the painful memory.

She paused for a moment, letting herself recover a bit, then looked at her brother and said with trembling voice, "Ni-chan, Yuuta killed father and mother right in front of my eyes." She burst into loud sobs.

Shou grinded his teeth angrily. "That monster, I will never forgive what he did to our family." He looked at Haruka in her eyes. "Shiori, we will avenge for our family, and all those who have suffered because of Yuuta. You and I, and Kenji, and everyone in our village, together we will kill Yuuta and take the country back." He glanced at Kakashi, who had been standing slightly away from them in silence, then he looked back at Haruka. "You are of course with us, right?"

Haruka nodded. She let go of her brother's embrace and walked towards Kakashi. "Kakashi." She said. This was the first time she ever called his name. Kakashi decided that he liked how his name sounded on her lips.

Suddenly Haruka kneeled down in front of Kakashi and gave him a most formal bow. Kakashi quickly lifted her up. "What was that for?" He asked, though he already knew what she was going to say.

"Kakashi," Haruka said slowly, searching for the right words. "you have saved me many times. I would not be alive today if it weren't for you. I cannot possibly thank you enough for everything that you have done for me. You have always been so kind to me, so gentle, so patient." There was so much emotions in those beautiful blue eyes that Kakashi felt like he was about to drown in them.

"I thought we would fight side by side with each other in battles for the rest of our lives. We would be teammates forever. Teammates in missions, teammates in life, we would always take care of each other, help each other." Haruka had to take a few deep breaths to suppress her sobs. "But I guess, that was just a dream, after all."

She untied her forehead protector from her head. "I am going to follow my brother from now on. I have to avenge my father and mother. I need to kill Yuuta. Only his blood can sooth the souls of my parents, and everyone else who had died because of him." She looked at Kakashi. She gathered her strength and said, "This will also mean that you and I are enemies from now on."

Even though Kakashi knew this was coming, he still felt like someone had just hit him hard on his head. Just two days ago, he and she, they were talking about how they would fight side by side with each other in battles. Just four days ago, he almost kissed her and declared his feelings for her. But now... suddenly they were on opposite sides? Suddenly, she belonged to the rebels that he had been ordered to kill?

That was not fair! Kakashi screamed inside his head.

Haruka lowered her gaze, completely avoiding Kakashi's eyes. She put her forehead protector into his hand. "Please give this back to Tsunade-sama. Please thank her for everything she has done for me. She is a very kind person." Haruka paused for a moment. "Also please tell Sakura that I'm sorry I cannot be her sensei anymore."

Finally she sighed and said, "Goodbye, Kakashi, next time we see each other it will be on the battlefield." She looked at Kakashi one last time, before she went back to Shou and Kenji, and the three of them left promptly to where they belonged.

Kakashi remained standing in the alley, dumbfounded, feeling like his life had just been turned upside down by the cruelty of fate.

**--- Author's Note: Just out of curiosity, and for my own improvement, how many of you have seen this coming? Was it totally predictable? Please let me know! (grin) ---**


	11. The assassination

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to come out. I had a small crisis with my living situation and I had to move and then the holidays came, but everything has returned to normal now. Hope you like how the story develops in this chapter!**

Chapter 11: The assassination

Kakashi had no idea how long he was standing alone in the small alley for. He only knew that when he looked up again, the sky was already dark, and Haruka was long gone.

He wondered where Haruka was now. What was she doing? Sure she wasn't thinking about him. She had other things to worry about. The revenge. The assassination. Sure she would not have time to think about him.

Kakashi sighed inwardly. What should he do now? He supposed he should pretend nothing had happened and continue with the mission. But could he really do that? Could he really face Haruka in a battle? If circumstances called for it, could he really kill her with his own hands?

Kakashi shook his head slowly. No way. No way in hell could he kill her. He'd rather kill himself than stain his hands with her blood. He looked at his hands. These hands had caressed her hair and held her hand. He could still feel the softness of her skin on his fingertips. He missed her already. He wanted to see her again. Just another glance. Just another glance of her.

Wait a minute. Kakashi suddenly remembered something -- he did indeed know where the rebels were suppose to stay tonight. Haruka and he found out the information when they spied on Shou and Kenji two nights ago. There was a small valley just outside of the Village of Tanzanite, where out-of-town merchants camped at night. Shou was planning to have all his men dressed up as merchants and stayed there for the night.

The thought of being able to see Haruka again cheered Kakashi up. He looked at the moon, identified the directions, and headed towards the valley in an almost feverish manner. Very soon, Kakashi was standing on the campground, searching for the slender figure of Haruka. The campground was packed full of people. Numerous merchants had traveled to the Village of Tanzanite in hope of making a good sale at the festival tomorrow. Kakashi walked around as stealthily as he possibly could in his current mental state. He walked between tents, spied on people who were huddling around the bonfire, sometimes even peeked through the drawn curtains of occupied tents, but Haruka and her people were nowhere to be seen.

Kakashi searched the campground thoroughly and repeatedly, until he finally convinced himself that Haruka was not in the vicinity of the valley. He hopped onto the nearest tree branch and sat down disappointedly. Of course, Haruka knew that he knew about their plan. Of course they would change their location to avoid him. He expected no less from Haruka. What should he do now? Once again Kakashi shook his head and sighed. He quietly watched the nearby bonfire flicker, and eventually fell asleep in the chilly night breeze.

His sleep was interrupted by a series of distorted dreams. First he saw Haruka talking with Rin. The two of them were chatting away happily, but when Kakashi tried to join their conversation, they simply stopped and stared at him with cold eyes as if they were disgusted by him. Later Kakashi saw his Yondaime-sensei teaching Shou a new jutsu. "Kakashi," His sensei told him. "Shou will replace you on my team from now on. You are no longer wanted here." After that, Obito walked up to him and said, "Kakashi, how does it feel to be abandoned? Not good huh?" Finally, Kakashi saw his dead mother, who gently held him in her arms and said, "Come here my child. Come here and let me hold you."

Kakashi was very glad to see his mother. He murmured softly, "Mother..."

"Um, I'm not your mother." A male voice replied.

Kakashi opened his eyes abruptly, his hands already reaching towards his weapon pouch, but he immediately relaxed when he saw that the voice belonged to his nindog Pakkun.

"Hi Pakkun." Kakashi said bleakly. His let out a moan as he felt a pounding headache kick in.

"What's the matter, Kakashi? You look a bit funny." Pakkun said with his usual insensitive manner. He jumped onto Kakashi's knees and placed his softly padded front paw on Kakashi's forehead. "Hmm..." He said curiously. "looks like you're running a fever. What happened to you? I've never seen you get sick before."

"Kakashi-sensei is sick?" Hopping onto a nearby tree branch and asking worriedly was Sakura, followed by her blond comrade Naruto. Sakura put her hand on Kakashi's forehead as well, then she demanded to feel his pulse.

"Sensei, you've caught a cold!" Sakura exclaimed. "Did you sleep on the tree last night? Why didn't you sleep in your sleeping bag? Where's Haruka-sensei?"

"Please... Sakura... you're making my headache worse." Kakashi said defenselessly. "I'll tell you about Haruka later. Who did you two bring back from Konoha?"

"Good morning my eternal rival. Have you embraced your power of youth today yet?" An energetic voice greeted him from under the tree. Kakashi did not have to look to know that Maito Gai was giving him a nice guy's pose and a shiny grin.

One by one, familiar faces appeared under the tree. There was Asuma with his cigarette, Chouji with his potato chips, Kiba with Akamaru, Genma with his senbon, and many others. It almost seemed like everyone he knew from Konoha was here!

After suffering through a lonely and miserable night, Kakashi was especially glad to see his friends from home. He eagerly hopped off the tree to greet them, without realizing how sick he was. His legs gave out on him when he landed and he fell forward helplessly. Luckily, Naruto was behind him and caught him before he smashed his face on the ground.

"Kakashi-sensei! Are you OK?" Naruto asked uncomfortably. The great Copy Nin fell when he hopped off a tree? That was unheard of!

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura walked up to Kakashi promptly. She rummaged through the contents of her backpack and took out a small bottle. "Here's some cold medicine. Drink it!"

Kakashi opened the bottle obediently and took a sip of its content. The pungent smell and bitter taste made him wince involuntarily. "This is nasty." He said.

"Well it's good for you. Haruka-sensei made it. It's extremely effective. You will feel better in no time." Sakura said matter-of-factly.

"Haruka... made this?" Kakashi stared at the bottle in his hand, suddenly feeling like he was holding onto a piece of Haruka.

"Yup, she gave me the bottle right before we left Konoha."

"Umm... Sakura... do you mind if I keep the bottle?"

Sakura looked at Kakashi suspiciously. "But, Kakashi-sensei, this medicine is very effective. You won't need a second dose of it."

"No, Sakura, you don't understand." Kakashi said pleadingly. "Please, can I have it?"

"Well..." Sakura considered for a moment. Finally she gave in and said reluctantly. "Fine, you can have it, but you need to tell me where Haruka-sensei is." Kakashi pretended to not have heard her. He carefully placed the bottle in the inside pocket of his Jounin vest, together with Haruka's forehead protector. He felt a little bit like a psycho stalker, collecting mementos of her like this, but he simply could not help it. Would he be like this for the rest of his life? Would he ever get over her? Kakashi did not know.

"Kakashi."

Kakashi looked up from his self-pitying. Kurenai was standing in front of him with a scroll in her hand.

"Kakashi, due to changes in circumstances, your team's current mission has been cancelled. There is a new mission of which you will be the leader. Here are the instructions from Hokage-sama." Kurenai handed Kakashi the scroll.

Surprised and confused, Kakashi opened the scroll and started reading it quickly. He read it through once, then he read it again, and again. He almost could not believe his eyes. Was it for real, or was it a joke? Kakashi looked at Kurenai's face, trying to find some sort of a clue, but Kurenai simply looked at him with a slightly impatient expression.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "I just want to know... is Tsunade-sama sure about this?" He pointed at the scroll in his hand.

"Well, Tsunade-sama has long had her suspicions, and our spies from ANBU confirmed it three days ago." Asuma joined in their conversation. "Lord Ishiguro Yuuta has teamed up with Orochimaru and the Sound Village. Their next target will be us -- Lord Yuuta wants to conquer the Land of Fire, and Orochimaru wants to destroy Konoha. They will begin their attack soon after the festival. Our spies received news that Orochimaru will be at the festival today. Our new mission is to stop the attack before it happens, and possibly capture Lord Yuuta and Orochimaru at the festival."

"Lord Ishiguro Yuuta is planning to attack our country..." Kakashi mumbled to himself, then he suddenly turned to Genma and asked, "That would of course mean that he's our enemy from now on?"

Not sure about why Kakashi was struggling with such a straight forward concept, Genma simply shrugged and said, "Sure."

Kakashi then turned to Gai and said, "Which would also mean that we are no longer rivals with the rebels who are trying to overthrow Lord Yuuta?"

Gai scratched his head and said, "I haven't thought about it that way, but I suppose that's true."

To everyone's surprise, Kakashi suddenly let out the most joyous laugh. He jumped up and down and tumbled in the air a few times. Then he ran up to Gai, gave him a bear hug, lifted him up and twirled him around like a child playing with his favorite teddy bear.

"Go seishu! Go youth! May all of you explode with the power of youth!" Kakashi yelled happily. Gai wasn't sure why his eternal rival suddenly became so enthusiastic about the power of youth, but he chanted along cheerfully anyway.

The rest of the Konoha shinobis looked at each other confusedly, all at a loss of what to do. A few of the girls secretly thought that the sight of two grown men hugging and dancing with each other was rather disgusting.

Feeling extremely worried about Kakashi's strange behavior, Sakura walked up to the duo and demanded again, with determination, "Kakashi-sensei! What exactly happened to Haruka-sensei? Where is she now?"

Kakashi stopped his little dance upon hearing Haruka's name. "Oh no." He said. It suddenly dawned on him that Haruka and Shou would likely run into Orochimaru at the festival. "Haruka's in danger. We need to go save them, right now."

He started running towards the festival. "Everyone, follow me. This is urgent. I will explain the situation to you on our way." Kakashi yelled out instructions to his new team while running at full speed. He was back to being the capable leader he was. Even his cold seemed to have miraculously disappeared.

Soon the Konoha shinobis were at the fairground of the village, searching for Haruka and the other rebels. The festival had yet to begin, but the fairground was already packed full of people. Kakashi ran around randomly, trying to spot Haruka's slender figure among the crowd. Would he be able to find her in a crowd like this? What if she wasn't here yet? Perhaps he should give Pakkun her forehead protector and told him to follow her scent. Would Pakkun be able to handle a crowd this big though?

Some girl walked by, Kakashi's trained shinobi eyes caught a glimpse of long flowing dark hair. He quickly turned around and looked, but that wasn't Haruka, just a young village girl enjoying herself at the festival. Disappointed, he cursed silently and looked at his watch. The festival would begin as soon as Lord Yuuta arrived and conducted the opening ceremony. He needed to get in touch with Haruka before Lord Yuuta arrived, to warn her about Orochimaru and to protect her from Orochimaru. He had promised to protect her for the rest of his life. He had to keep his promise.

Kakashi was beginning to feel a little anxious. The crowd seemed to grow bigger by the minute, yet Haruka was nowhere to be seen. Everywhere people were greeting and chatting with each other excitingly, creating a festive buzz at the fairground. However, the buzz quickly died down when a group of foot soldiers marched into the festival. There were about eighty of them, and hiding safely among the soldiers was Lord Ishiguro Yuuta, the dictator of the country.

As soon as Lord Yuuta and his entourage entered the fairground, Kakashi felt the presence of a strong evil chakra. His heart sank. It had to be Orochimaru. Only he would possess such a wicked chakra signature. The ANBU spies were right. Orochimaru was here at the festival with Lord Yuuta. _Haruka, where are you??? _ Kakashi looked at his watch again. He told his team that their first priority was to save Haruka and her friends (comrade's safety came before mission, courtesy of Uchiha Obito), but if she never showed up, they would move onto their second plan to capture Orochimaru and Lord Yuuta. How long should he wait for Haruka before telling his team to start the second plan?

The group of soldiers marched solemnly towards the center stage of the fairground. Lord Yuuta walked up the stage, while his soldiers fanned out in front of him under the stage to form a human wall between the feudal lord and the crowd. "Good morning, my country." A smug smile appeared on Lord Yuuta's good looking face. My country... he enjoyed saying those words. Even after all these years, he still got a thrill from what happened twelve years ago. He thanked himself daily for murdering his own brother and seizing the country. And now... as soon as he seized the Land of Fire, the country would become bigger than ever, making him one of the most powerful feudal lords around. Lord Yuuta smiled again, but before he could continue with his speech, a sharp whistle sound pierced through the air and startled everyone at the festival. Upon the sound of the whistle, a figure quickly dashed out from the crowd and headed towards the stage at a super human speed.

Kakashi instantly recognized the familiar body shape and movement of Haruka. She must have been chosen to be the assassin because of her shinobi abilities. The whistle was also Shou's signal for all the other rebels to begin their attack. The rebels drew their weapons and came out from their hiding places with a ground shaking battle cry. They charged fiercely towards Lord Yuuta and his soldiers, determined to kill the dictator and claim the country back for its rightful heir. Many of Lord Yuuta's soldiers were taken by surprise and were injured or killed on the spot. Those who managed to draw their weapons in time immediately engaged in a vigorous fight with the rebels.

With her amazing speed, Haruka was on the stage within seconds after the whistle sounded. She took down the two guards next to Lord Yuuta with beautiful taijutsu techniques. Kakashi, who had now run closer to the stage, could see Haruka charging towards Lord Yuuta with a deadly needle in her hand. He had never seen her with such a strong murderous intent before.

Haruka drew her elbow back while she was still running. Her eyes were fixated on a fatal spot on Lord Yuuta's chest. It was a gap between his ribs, through which the needle could go directly into his heart and kill him within seconds. A rather painless way for a sinner like him to die, Haruka thought, but she would rather kill him sooner than later.

Her needle was now only five inches away from that fatal spot... four inches... three inches... two inches... Haruka's body began to shiver with excitement... she was so close to avenging her parents... and everyone in the country who had suffered because of Lord Yuuta...

Suddenly, Haruka felt something rope-like tightened up around her waist and threw her body backward violently. She looked down and let out a startled scream when she realized that the thing around her waist was a disgustingly long and snaky tongue from a person who exuded nothing but evil chakra.

Haruka was captured by Orochimaru! Kakashi had been running towards the stage as soon as he heard the whistle, but he simply could not match Haruka's speed. He was still a distance away from the stage, and all he could do was watching the woman he loved being captured by the psycho criminal...


	12. Kakashi's plan

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

Chapter 12: Kakashi's plan

Kakashi quickly hid himself when he saw Haruka captured by Orochimaru, even though it was largely against his protective instinct towards her. A good ninja should never make a loud entrance. A good ninja should always hide and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. Kakashi knew that Orochimaru had no reason to kill Haruka immediately. He most certainly would want to get some information out of her first, then perhaps use her as a hostage. Haruka should be safe for the time being.

Even if that wasn't the case, Kakashi told himself, his hiding location was close enough to Haruka that he would be able to save her if Orochimaru did something funny. The Copy Nin assessed his surrounding carefully. He was pleased to see that all of his teammates had followed his instructions and went into hiding, making their presence unknown to anyone else at the festival.

Kakashi focused his attention back onto the battle. His keen eyes instantly spotted a familiar figure among the crowd -- Haruka's brother Shou was standing about twenty feet from her, his face looking both concerned and horrified. Kakashi watched Shou frantically take out a whistle from his pocket and blow hard into it, sending a sharp piercing sound through the air. "Halt the attack!" Shou shouted his command. "Shiori's been captured!" The rebels immediately stopped and retreated in unison. Lord Yuuta's soldiers were all too grateful to have a break from the rebels' fierce attack. They quickly regained their formation and stood in front of Lord Yuuta, but their numbers had noticeably reduced.

Nobody said a single word. The battleground was suddenly quiet as a graveyard.

Suddenly Orochimaru broke the silence. "Let's see what we've got here." He gestured his loyal servant Kabuto to take over Haruka. Kabuto quickly walked behind Haruka and tied her wrists together with a rope.

"This special rope is made of human hair and steel fiber, you won't be able to break it even if you have Tsunade's super human strength, so don't even bother to try." Kabuto said smugly. He remained standing behind Haruka and held onto the rope on her wrists.

Orochimaru gave Kabuto an approval nod. He walked in front of Haruka and examined her curiously. The fact that Haruka had dressed herself up as a man and tugged her long hair under a hat did not diminish her beauty by the slightest. Orochimaru eagerly looked her up and down, mentally stripping her naked with his hungry eyes. Suddenly, he opened his mouth and extended his snake-like tongue towards her face. Haruka shuddered violently when the tip of his tongue came into contact with her skin. Orochimaru slowly slid his tongue across her face, obviously excited by the look of fear in her eyes. Haruka tried to struggle, but that only made Kabuto hold onto her arms even tighter. Finally, when Orochimaru decided that he was done playing with her, he reached his tongue up and flipped the hat off Haruka's head with a swift movement. Her long, silky black hair immediately fell down her back like a lush waterfall, framing her delicate face perfectly.

Orochimaru retracted his tongue and let out a contented sigh. "What a fine piece of specimen you are!" He exclaimed. "You are some sort of shinobi, aren't you? Which hidden village are you from?"

Haruka simply stared at him coldly without saying a single word. She had no idea of who this creepy man was, but she had decided that she would not give in to him.

Orochimaru grunted at her lack of response. Kabuto asked helpfully, "Orochimaru-sama, would you like me to make her talk?"

Haruka's body visibly shook upon hearing Orochimaru's name. She had never seen Orochimaru before, but she had of course heard of his name and his evil deeds, and she certainly did not expect to see him here. What was this monster doing at the Quartz country? Why was he with Lord Yuuta?

Orochimaru did not answer Kabuto's question. Instead, he raised his arm and slapped Haruka hard on her face. "Who do you think you are, you insolent bitch?" He hissed. Blood immediately began to trickle down the corner of her mouth, its bright red color contrasted against her pale skin.

Kakashi almost leaped out from his hiding position when Orochimaru hit Haruka, but he held himself back with tremendous self control. The time was not ready yet, and Haruka was still relatively safe for the time being.

Shou on the other hand could not keep his silence. He charged towards Orochimaru angrily. "Don't you dare to hurt Shiori!"

Haruka frantically tried to stop him. She screamed, "Shou! Stop! He's a dangerous criminal! Don't come near us!" But Shou ignored her and kept running towards them.

Orochimaru smirked lightly. He opened his mouth and drew his Kusanagi sword. He didn't mind to do a little bit of killing, he was in the mood for blood anyway. Orochimaru patiently waited for his prey to come to his sword, but a shadow suddenly dashed out from nowhere and pulled Shou away before any blood was shed.

Orochimaru frowned when he saw Kakashi standing next to Shou. He grunted and returned the sword into his mouth, but before he could say anything, Lord Yuuta promptly marched towards them and exclaimed in disbelief. "My, my, guess who is here?" He looked back and forth perplexedly between Shou and Haruka. "Shou and Shiori, my favorite nephew and niece. What a fine family reunion it is."

Lord Yuuta walked in front of Haruka and studied her face closely. "Look at you, my dear Shiori-chan, you have grown into such a fine woman. You look just like your beautiful mother. Oh good old Kaede-hime..." Lord Yuuta said with mock nostalgia.

Haruka spat angrily on his face before he could finish his sentence. "Don't you dare to mention my mother's name. You monster, my brother and I will kill you. Only your blood can sooth the souls of our parents."

Lord Yuuta wiped off Haruka's bloody spit with his hands angrily. "Kill this impudent girl right now!" He ordered Orochimaru.

But Orochimaru only frowned. He did not like to be bossed around. He said to Lord Yuuta coldly, "I will kill the girl whenever I feel like it. You may be the feudal lord of this country, but that does not grant you the power to give me orders. Do not ever try that again." His threatening voice made Lord Yuuta shiver and shut up obediently.

Orochimaru then turned to Kakashi. "Now, what I really want to know is, what kind of business you have here, Kakashi-kun."

"Well..." Kakashi's mind was spinning rapidly. He and Shikamaru had come up with a plan for practically every possible scenario on their way here. They had a perfect plan for the current situation, but since Kakashi had shown his face earlier than he expected to, he needed to drag the time so that his team could prepare for and execute the plan. Kakashi mindlessly touched the front his Jounin vest. His fingers felt the shape of a certain object in the inside pocket of the vest, and he immediately had an idea. "I'm on Tsunade-sama's order to hunt down a missing nin and bring her back to Konoha." He gestured at Haruka.

"Oh? So she is a missing nin after all." Orochimaru turned towards Haruka. He reached out his hand and caressed her face gently. Haruka tried to bite his hand, but Orochimaru simply laughed and retreated his hand quickly. Some of the blood on Haruka's face got onto his fingers, and he licked it off enjoyably. "Mmm... what tasty blood you have. Tell me, Kakashi-kun, what has this tasty little girl done?"

Kakashi had to suppress his urge to punch Orochimaru in his face. _Get your filthy hands off Haruka!_ He screamed angrily inside his head, but he forced a smile onto his face and said, "She is a medic nin from Konoha. Tsunade-sama asked her to research on the Nara clan's family medicine, but she ended up running away with the secret recipes and the medicine. Here's the evidence."

Kakashi reached into the inside pocket of his Jounin vest and took out the cold medication that he got from Sakura earlier. He removed the cap and the medicinal herb's pungent smell immediately filled the surrounding air, convincing everyone that Kakashi's story was true. Kakashi turned to Haruka and said, "You were too careless. You dropped this on the way here, which made it really easy for me to hunt you down."

Haruka looked at the masked man in front of her, confusion evident in her large blue eyes. She was not surprised to see Kakashi at the festival. His mission was to capture the rebels after all. But why did he save Shou? And why was he making up a story about her stealing the Nara clan's secret medicine? Haruka of course recognized the bottle in Kakashi's hand. It was her own recipe of cold medicine. She herself made it and gave it to Sakura before the trip. How did it end up in Kakashi's hands? What was going on?

Without saying anything further to Haruka, Kakashi turned around and walked towards Orochimaru, his body intentionally blocking her from Orochimaru's view. "Orochimaru-sama, this has nothing to do with you, I suggest you to not interfere with Tsunade-sama's business..."

Haruka was listening intently to what Kakashi said, but suddenly she felt Kabuto doing something funny behind her. It took her a moment to realize that Kabuto was trying to trace words on her hands with his finger. Was Kabuto trying to communicate with her in secret? What would he possibly want to tell her? Haruka focused her attention to what Kabuto was writing.

_-- Haruka-sensei, this is Ino.-- _ Kabuto wrote.

Haruka frowned. She knew that Ino was one of Sakura's friends, but why would Kabuto claim that that he was Ino?

_-- Sensei, I'm controlling Kabuto's body with my mind body switch jutsu right now. I'm going to untie the rope on your wrists. Don't move for a moment, OK?--_

Haruka could feel the rope loosening up around her wrists. In order to avoid attracting other people's attention, Ino simply loosened the rope without untying it completely. She left the rope on Huruka's wrist, knowing that Haruka could easily break her hands free like that.

Ino then wrote, _ --I'm almost at the limit of my jutsu so I gotta leave soon. Can you manage an attack when I leave?--_

Without looking back, Haruka gave Ino an almost imperceptible nod.

_-- OK, ready... one, two, three...-- _At the count of three, right at the moment when Ino's mind left Kabuto's body, Haruka dived forward into a perfect swallow balance and kicked her back leg high up into Kabuto's jaws, knocking him out cold again. She immediately gathered chakra on her feet and ran forward at her fastest speed possible.

Orochimaru charged angrily at Haruka as soon as he realized what had happened. Being one of the legendary sannins, Orochimaru could easily match up with her super human speed. He was only a few feet away from Haruka, but he was forced to step back to dodge a fierce attack by Kakashi.

Suddenly, all of the Konoha shinobis jumped out from their respective hiding position and attacked Orochimaru at the same time. Orochimaru let out an angry howl and immediately withdrew his Kusanagi sword from his mouth. Kakashi took the chance to pull Haruka back until they were at a safe distance away from the fight. Kakashi looked at Haruka concernedly. "Are you alright?" He asked.

Haruka nodded.

Kakashi reached out his hand and gently rubbed off the dried blood from Haruka's face. "Orochimaru's gonna pay for this." He said angrily.

Haruka frowned. "But, Kakashi..."

Kakashi knew what she was going to say. He pressed a finger over Haruka's lips. "Shhh." He paused for a moment, savoring the softness on his finger tip. He said as concisely as possible. "Haruka, things have changed, Lord Yuuta has teamed up with Orochimaru against the Fire Country and Konoha. The mission has been cancelled. We are now officially at war with Lord Yuuta."

Kakashi smiled as Haruka's eyes opened wide in surprise. He withdrew his finger from her lips reluctantly. He thought for a moment and said, "Haruka, I don't know what the future holds for us, but at least for this battle we are teammates again. To your brother and the Quartz country, you are Shiori-hime, but to me and Konoha, you are Haruka." Kakashi took out her forehead protector from his inside pocket. "Here, do you want to put this on?" Haruka nodded slowly and let Kakashi tie the forehead protector under her hair.

Kakashi then let his hand slide down and caressed her delicate face with his calloused fingers. Haruka gently placed her hand over his, letting herself drown momentarily in the sea of emotions. The war had resumed. The rebels were once again attacking Lord Yuuta's soldiers with full force. Weapons were clashing, people were yelling, but the two of them were simply lost in each other's gaze, oblivious to the chaos around them.

Suddenly, a loud sound exploded, and Naruto's body went flying past Haruka and Kakashi. Naruto yelled in midair, "Geez, we're in the middle of a war. Are the two of you going to help or what?"

Kakashi smiled and released his hand from Haruka's face unwillingly. He gave her a quick peck on her forehead through his mask and said, "Let's go fight."


	13. A most fierce battle

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

A/N: Hello everyone! I'm so so sorry that this chapter took so long. I just got really caught up in everyday life, which happens to include moving and relocating, a martial art black belt test, and taking care of a sick roommie, but now I'm back, and we're on the second to last chapter! We're almost done, yay!

Chapter 13: A most fierce battle

The battlefield was divided into two separate arenas. Near the stage, Lord Yuuta and his remaining soldiers were frantically defending themselves against the rebels' fierce attack, whereas over at the other side of the fairground, Orochimaru was single-handedly fighting against all the Konoha ninja. Kakashi looked around, did some quick analysis in his head and said to Haruka, "You should go help your brother, and I'll beat up Orochimaru for you." Haruka nodded, her delicate face looking both excited and nervous. Kakashi gave her a comforting smile and said, "If you need me, just give me a shout. I'll be nearby." Haruka nodded again. Suddenly she walked up to Kakashi and surprised him by pulling him into a tight hug.

It took Kakashi a moment to respond and hug her back. _Her body was… so soft... _Kakashi couldn't help but think. Even after Haruka had turned around and ran towards her brother, Kakashi had to forcefully peel his thoughts away from the beautiful kunoichi and focus back on the fight against Orochimaru. Naruto had just attempted a rasengan at Orochimaru, but the legendary sannin simply tumbled backward in a swift movement, dodging both Naruto's chakra ball and a few of Ten Ten's throwing weapons at the same time. However, Kakashi saw a gap in Orochimaru's defense. He quickly performed a series of hand seals and aimed a fire jutsu at him. Orochimaru saw the fireball coming and ducked immediately, but the fireball still brushed against the hem of his shirt and set it on fire. Orochimaru growled angrily and quickly patted his shirt to put the fire out.

With Kakashi now in the battle, the Konoha shinobi were finally gaining the upper hand. Orochimaru had begun to slow down. At some point, Asuma's trench knife even managed to slice past his shoulder, drawing a little blood with it. The rebels were also at an advantage after Haruka joined the battle. With her incredible shinobi skills, Haruka was able to quickly take down many of Lord Yuuta's remaining soldiers. Finally, they had Lord Yuuta cornered. Shou and Haruka looked at each other. They were so close to victory that they could almost taste it.

"Shiori, it's time to avenge our parents." Shou said solemnly.

Haruka nodded. "Let's go, Shou onii-sama." Together, with weapons in their hands, the prince and princess of the Quartz Country walked towards the monster that murdered their parents. Together, the prince and princess would avenge their parents and seize their country back.

Suddenly, before Shou could plunge his sword into Yuuta's heart, something exploded in mid air and distracted everyone from the battle. Before anyone realized what happened, a troop of Sound ninja had teleported onto the fairground and immediately began to fight against the Konoha shinobi and the rebels.

_Kuso!_ Kakashi mentally kicked himself in the head. He had totally forgotten about Kabuto, who had been lying unconsciously on the ground since Haruka kicked him on the chin. Apparently Kabuto had woken up and called for the Sound ninja back up. How many of them were here? Kakashi quickly killed the two Sound nins that were brave enough to challenge him and hopped onto a tree. From the height, Kakashi could see that the Leaf ninja were outnumbered, but the Sound nins were not nearly as skillful as the Konoha shinobi. Kakashi was confident that his comrades would be able to take them all down before too long. But what about Orochimaru? Where was he, and what was he planning?

Kakashi finally spotted Orochimaru's pale face at an empty corner of the fairground. The snake user was performing a series of hand seals... those hand seals... it was kuchiyose no jutsu! Orochimaru pressed his palms against the ground and a Kyodaija immediately appeared with a poof of smoke. Kakashi recognized the giant snake – it was same as the one that Orochimaru summoned during the Konoha attack. In other words, it was an extremely dangerous summon!

Kakashi quickly found Naruto on the battlefield. "Naruto, summon the toad boss Gamabunta, right now!" Gamabunta would be their only hope against the Kyodaija. Kakashi watched Naruto perform the hand seals for kuchiyose no jutsu. However, when Naruto pressed his palms against the ground, only the puny toad Gamagikichi appeared. "Not you again!" Naruto screamed in despair.

Kakashi sighed disappointedly. It seemed like he could not depend on Naruto's summoning jutsu after all. He needed to come up with a strategy to kill the giant snake. There had to be some useful jutsu among the thousands that he had copied, right?

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Suddenly a familiar voice rose behind him. Kakashi turned around. It was Haruka -- what was she trying to summon?

A giant flash of gold together with a small tornado appeared as soon as Haruka pressed her hands on the ground. When Kakashi finally managed to open his eyes after rubbing a few grains of sand out of his exposed eye, he saw an enormous bird standing in front of him. The bird was the size of Gamabunta, and it was covered in golden feathers that shined like the sun. Kakashi quickly realized that Haruka's summon was a giant phoenix.

"Pleased see you again, Shiori-hime." The phoenix addressed Haruka politely. It had a soft and gentle voice, despite its formidable appearance.

Haruka opened her eyes wide in surprise. "Kogane-san, how could you possibly know my real name? I haven't seen you since I recovered my memory!"

"We phoenixes certainly know a lot." The phoenix chuckled softly, unwilling to reveal the secret of its species.

"And the phoenixes are extremely proud creatures. They will only serve humans with pure royal blood, am I right?" A voice rose behind Haruka. She turned around and found Kakashi.

"I read that in a book a long time ago." Kakashi explained. "I thought I remembered it wrong when you first told me that you could summon a phoenix, but turned out that you are a true princess." Kakashi smiled. They had a chance of winning now that they had a magical bird like this on their side.

"Ano… Kogane-san, this is Kakashi, he's a shinobi from the hidden village of Konoha." Haruka introduced. "Ah, so this is Kakashi-san." The phoenix said warmly. "I know of him, of course. His name is written all over your fate, hime-sama." Haruka blushed at the bird's comment, yet she could not hide the sweet smile forming on her face.

The bird turned to Kakashi and said, "I am pleased to meet you, Kakashi-san."

"Pleased to meet you too, Kogane-san, please just call me Kakashi." Kakashi returned the courtesy. He read in the same book that phoenixes were rather particular about formality and courtesy.

"Kogane-san, would you lend us your power to defeat Orochimaru and his snake?" Haruka asked eagerly.

"It will be my pleasure." The phoenix replied. "Please hop on."

Haruka took Kakashi's hand and hopped onto the bird's back together. Kogane immediately took off. "Kogane-san seems to like you." Haruka whispered in Kakashi's ear, sounding pleased. "Is that a big surprise?" Kakashi whispered back. "Well… Kogane-san can be pretty opinionated sometimes." Haruka stuck out her tongue, feeling a bit guilty about gossiping behind Kogane's back.

In order to tease Haruka, Kakashi faked a frown and asked, "Exactly how many boyfriend have you taken home to show Kogane-san?"

Haruka shot him a sidelong glance and said, "None, you are the first one."

"Oh?" Kakashi allowed himself to sound surprised. "So I'm officially a boyfriend now?" He smiled and watched with pleasure that Haruka's face had turned beet red.

Suddenly they heard Kogane's gentle voice, sounding like a kind but stern grandmother. "Children, you can flirt as much as you like after the battle, but we should focus on the battle for now. What should we do?"

It was Kakashi's turn to blush furiously under his mask. He and Haruka had been whispering in each other's ear the whole time. He did no expect Kogane to have heard the conversation. "Kogane-san," He replied respectfully. "I think it will be best if we can lead the giant snake away from the village and fight somewhere else. There are too many innocent villagers around here." Kakashi paused and thought for a moment. "There is a forest south of here, right between the Quartz Country and the Fire Country. Let's head over to that direction."

Kogane nodded in acknowledgement. It circled around the Kyodaija several times, pretending to peck the snake with its sharp beak. The giant snake immediately got angry and chased behind the golden phoenix, with Orochimaru and Kabuto standing on its back.

"Hold on tight." Kogane told Haruka and Kakashi as it picked up the speed and raced towards the forest. Kakashi turned around and was glad to see that the Kyodaija was following behind them tightly.

They were traveling at such high speed that Kakashi had to hold onto Kogane's feather with all his might in order to not fall off. Very soon, they could see the edge of the luscious green. "We're at the forest!" Kakashi yelled.

"I shall begin the attack then." Kogane said as it turned around and charged towards the snake.

It was a most fierce battle. The two summon animals attacked each other with every intention to kill, stirring the sky above and shaking the earth underneath along the way. Trees were cut down by the enormous flapping wings, rivers were destroyed by the giant slippery body. Kogane managed to cut the Kyodaija several times with its sharp beak, but it was also injured by the snake's fire on multiple parts of its body. The phoenix could feel its chakra reserve decreasing rapidly, but the snake was also becoming more sluggish by the minute._ I must kill the snake before I run out of my chakra. _ Kogane told itself. It took a deep breath, gathered up its remaining chakra, and charged towards the Kyodaija one more time.

The four shinobi had also split up into two pairs. Haruka had taken on Kabuto in the forest. Both of them were medic nins. Both of them had precise chakra control and knew a lot about the human body. Haruka had the advantage of speed, but Kabuto was physically stronger. Neither of them could take down the other person easily, so it had become a game of endurance, a game in which the person who made a mistake first would die.

The battle between Kakashi and Orochimaru was an entirely different story. The copy nin who knew over a thousand jutsu might be a formidable opponent to many, but in front of the legendary sannin, Kakashi's jutsu were nothing but child's play. "Kakashi-kun, is that all you have got?" Orochimaru teased the copy nin mercilessly.

Kakashi simply bit his lips in frustration but did not say a single word. His mind was churning rapidly. He had already tried some of his most powerful jutsu, including the water jutsu that he copied from Momochi Zabuza. He did manage to put a few minor scratches on Orochimaru, but that was about it. What other jutsu could he try? What would work against such a powerful opponent? It would be great if he could somehow strike Orochimaru head on with a raikiri, but Orochimaru was too agile for that. In fact, Kakashi wasn't even sure if he could manage another raikiri. He used it three times already, and he had collected quite a few injuries during this fight. Even though none of the injuries was fatal, he had lost quite a bit of blood. In fact, he could already feel the dizziness kick in. Would he survive this battle at all?

Haruka was the first one to win her battle because she suddenly remembered that she still had a bottle of the forbidden substance on her. At a low concentration, the forbidden substance could act as a potent sedative. Haruka reached into her pocket and fished out the bottle of white fluid, and she immediately had an idea. She gathered chakra under her feet and charged towards Kabuto at full speed, with a long needle in one hand and the bottle of forbidden substance hidden in her other hand. She ran around Kabuto in circles, pretending to attack him with her needle, which Kabuto managed to dodge fairly easily as he was a rather skillful fighter himself. When the time was ready, Haruka crushed the glass bottle in her hand and threw its content towards Kabuto. Droplets of the innocent-looking fluid scattered in the air and landed on both Kabuto and Haruka. Since Haruka's body was used to the forbidden substance, such low amount did not affect her at all. However, as soon as Kabuto breathed in some of the fluid, he instantly lost his consciousness and collapsed onto the ground.

Haruka was about to stab a needle into Kabuto's heart to end his evil life once and for all when she saw from the corner of her eye that Kakashi was in an extremely dangerous situation. The copy nin had been cornered by Orochimaru, who was charging towards him with the kusanagi sword. Haruka immediately jumped up and threw herself at Orochimaru, forcing him to turn around and defend himself against her needle, giving Kakashi a chance to escape from the sword. Kakashi quickly ran towards Haruka so that they could face Orochimaru side by side.

"Heh heh heh heh." Orochimaru stuck out his snake-like tongue and licked his lips slowly. "There is nothing I enjoy more than killing a couple of young lovers." He turned to Kakashi. "Should I kill you in front of her first? Or should I do it the other way round?" Kakashi grunted angrily, but before he could say something back, a loud shriek resonated through the air and caused everyone to look up.

Kogane had gathered up all of it remaining chakra and managed an amazing attack at the Kyodaija. It charged towards the giant snake with so much force that it sliced the snake's body open with its beak. The Kyodaija shrieked in pain and collapsed, its thick and stenchy blood spilling all over the place.

Orochimaru growled in anger. He could not believe that both Kabuto and Kyodaija were taken down so easily. He was determined to take his anger out on the two young Konoha ninja in front of him. However, when he turned around, he was surprised to see that both Kakashi and Haruka had disappeared! They had apparently escaped right under his eyes when he was distracted by the defeat of his summon animal!

Kakashi and Haruka were hiding in a tiny cave nearby, snuggling close to each other like a couple of small animals. "Is Kogane ok?" Kakashi whispered.

"She's fine." Haruka said. "She has a few scrapes and burns and she runs out of chakra, so I sent her home. She will recover in a few days." Then she turned and looked at Kakashi's body. "Let me see your wounds…" She tried to reach her hand under his uniform, but Kakashi caught her hand. "That's not what a lady should do." He teased her. Then he said seriously. "Listen, Haruka, Orochimaru will find us here in no time. We need to think of a way to get you out of here safely. In a minute, I'm going to run out and distract Orochimaru, and once I have his attention, I want you to run towards the opposite direction at your full speed…"

However, Haruka pressed her hand firmly against his mouth and would not let him finish his sentence. "Kakashi baka." She said angrily. "You're going to die if you do that." Kakashi peeled her hand off his mouth. "But this way you will live." He protested. "Baka." Haruka repeated. "Do you seriously think that I can live on by myself if you die?"

Kakashi was rendered speechless by what Haruka said. He saw the emotions in her eyes, and he could tell that she meant every single word she said. He knew that he was in love with her and he would die for her any time, but he had no idea that she felt the same way with him. Suddenly Kakashi gave up protesting. Instead he laughed and said, "Fine, either we live together, or we die together." Then he added, "But we'd better stay alive because I have yet to kiss you properly."

Haruka smiled and nodded. The two of them hugged each other tightly, both feeling a strong desire to live. Suddenly Haruka sat up and said excitedly, "I have an idea!" Kakashi looked at her, wondering what the witty girl was thinking about. "Kakashi, do you remember that spider monster? The one you saved me from a long time ago?"

Kakashi of course remember that fearful monster.

Haruka continued. "It lives under the cliff just a little bit south of here, right? Just if we can get Orochimaru down the cliff, even he will have a hard time fighting that monster!" Then she frowned. "But how can we possibly get him to go down the cliff?"

"Genjutsu!" Kakashi suggested. "First we lure him to go near the cliff, then I can use genjutsu to trick him into thinking that the cliff doesn't exist, and then when we fight, ka-boom, we send him straight down the cliff."

Haruka was not entirely convinced. "Will regular genjutsu work on someone like Orochimaru?"

"I'm pretty sure that I can hold him for at least a few seconds. That should be enough." Kakashi said confidently. They could already hear Orochimaru's footstep coming closer to the little cave. "We don't have time to think anymore. Let's go."


	14. A forbidden medical jutsu

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

A/N: There's still an epilogue after this chapter. Don't miss it!

Chapter 14: A forbidden medical jutsu

Orochimaru spotted Kakashi and Haruka as soon as they left the cave. The two Konoha ninja ran towards the cliff as fast as their injured bodies would allow them to. Both of them were almost at the end of their chakra, and Kakashi had lost a considerable amount of blood. He had to partially lean on Haruka's body to make sure that he wouldn't collapse while they ran.

"The cliff is right ahead of us!" Haruka whispered excitedly. Her keen nose could even pick up a hint of the spider grass' pungent smell in the air. Very soon they were running on the mountain ridge where Kakashi first met Haruka's parrot Kazahana. Kakashi would have felt a bit nostalgic if they weren't being chased by a dangerous enemy right now.

"Here… this is fine." Kakashi signaled Haruka to stop. He pulled up his forehead protector to reveal his sharingan. "Stay close to me, but don't look into my eyes." He warned Haruka. When Orochimaru finally came close enough to him, Kakashi quickly activated his sharingan to trap Orochimaru in his genjutsu.

Haruka didn't know what Kakashi was showing Orochimaru in the genjutsu, but she could see the snake user stepping closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. Haruka's heart began to pound in nervous anticipation. Just a few more steps now. Go on, Orochimaru, just like that. One step. Two steps. Three steps. The heel of Orochimaru's left foot was already hanging outside of the cliff, he was so close to falling, but suddenly Orochimaru let out an angry growl. He took a kunai and stabbed it deeply into his arm to force his way out of the genjutsu.

Orochimaru immediately realized the danger of his current situation. He quickly jerked his body forward in an attempt to save himself from the fall, but Kakashi wouldn't let him. The copy nin gathered up however little of his remaining chakra into his right hand and charged forward with a raikiri. His hand hit Orochimaru right on his chest, throwing him off balance once again. Orochimaru opened his eyes wide in disbelief as he fell backward towards the cliff. He tried to grab Kakashi's arm but he missed. Nonetheless, Orochimaru retrieved his kusanagi sword and threw it at Kakashi with all his vengeance before he disappeared down the cliff…

Haruka knew that Kakashi would not be able to dodge the sword at his current state, so she frantically ran towards Kakashi as soon as she saw Orochimaru throw the sword, but even her super human speed was no match for Orochimaru final attack. Haruka saw the sword plunging deeply into Kakashi's chest. She could even hear the sword tearing through Kakashi's muscles and bones. She got there just in time to catch him before he hit the ground.

Haruka's mind went blank for a few seconds, but she quickly pulled herself together. _Haruka._ She told herself. _Haruka, you are a proud student of Sasaki-sensei. You are one of the best medic nin in Konoha. If ANYONE can save Kakashi, you can, so calm down, calm down and think of a way to save him._

Haruka tore open the clothes around the sword to examine Kakashi's wound. The wound was long and deep, but since the sword was extremely sharp, the cut itself was very clean, and a clean wound was always easier to heal than a messy one. Haruka took a deep breath, grabbed onto the end of the sword, counted to three in her head and pulled the sword out in one quick movement. She immediately applied as much healing chakra as she could to the wound to stop the bleeding. She also forced the chakra deep into his tissue to initiate the healing process.

After a short while, Kakashi was no longer bleeding. Haruka treated his other wounds as well. Very soon the smaller wounds were completely healed, but Kakashi still didn't look right. He was unconscious, his face was almost as white as Kazahana's feathers, and his breathing was forced. Haruka felt his pulse, it was barely there. He had lost way too much blood. His heart was so weak that it could stop beating any moment.

Haruka sat down next to Kakashi in despair, her face buried in her hands. Tears started to roll down her cheeks like tiny little pearls. She could not bear the thought of losing Kakashi. It was not fair! Just when she had begun to know him. Just when she had begun to fall in love with him… not fair!

No! There had to be a way to save a patient who had lost an excessive amount of blood. Haruka mentally flipped through the hundreds and thousands of medical books and records that she had ever read with her photographic memory. There had to be something among those books that could save Kakashi. Blood loss… blood loss… something was ringing a bell… what was it…

Bingo! Haruka found what she was looking for. It was a book full of forbidden medical jutsu that used to sit on the top of Sasaki-sensei's bookshelf. Yes, that was right, a forbidden medical jutsu. This jutsu allowed the user to transfer his blood to another person by connecting their circulatory systems. It was a forbidden jutsu because there was a fairly high chance that the two people's blood were not compatible, which would cause the blood to clot and result in the death of both. Haruka closed her eyes and tried to remember what was written on that page of the book. She realized that she practically remembered every single step of the jutsu. It wasn't even that complicated a jutsu to begin with.

Haruka lifted her head up and looked at Kakashi. It sounded impossible but his face had become even more pale. She needed to execute the jutsu right now, but she hesitated. It was a forbidden jutsu after all. There was a fair chance that she would fail to save Kakashi and ended up killing both of them instead. Suddenly Haruka laughed. What was she thinking. If she chose not to do anything right now Kakashi would undoubtedly die, and as she said, she could not live on by herself if Kakashi died, so the outcome was the same. Either they both lived, or they both died. There was no other option.

Haruka felt a lot calmer after making her decision. She took a kunai out of her weapon pouch, sterilized it with a small fire jutsu, and made an incision on both Kakashi's and her own wrist, over the major artery. She lined up the incisions on their wrists and performed a series of hand seals with her other hand. Immediately she felt her blood flowing into Kakashi's body. Her blood mixed with Kakashi's blood, circulated through his body and supplied his organs with oxygen before returning to her own body. Their mixed blood traveled between the two bodies once, twice, three times, until Haruka lost count of it. This jutsu was surprisingly soothing, almost enjoyable. Haruka closed her eyes and let her mind enter an almost meditative state, until she suddenly realized that she was still alive!

She opened her eyes abruptly. Yes! She was still alive, and so was Kakashi. Not only was he alive, he actually looked a lot better than before. There was finally some color in his cheeks, and his breathing was no longer as forced. The jutsu was working, and better yet, their blood was compatible with each other. Haruka simply could not thank the person who invented the jutsu enough.

Haruka let the blood circulated through a few more times before she terminated the connection. She used a small amount of chakra to heal the wounds on their wrists before collapsing onto Kakashi's body herself. She was truly at the end of her chakra, and she had given him a significant portion of her blood. Now that she knew Kakashi's life was no longer in danger, she simply let herself relax into unconsciousness.

When Kakashi slowly came to, the first thing he felt was the warmth and softness of Haruka. He forced himself to open his non-sharingan eye, and saw that the beautiful kunoichi was lying face down on top of him, using his body as a bed. Kakashi closed his eye satisfactorily, concentrating on the softness on his chest. _Wow_. Kakashi thought to himself in his still half-asleep state. He had absolutely no idea that Haruka had such gems hidden under her usually conservative clothing. His mind drifted off and he started to wonder if some day he would get to explore her body, icha icha style. Kakashi could feel the blood in his body rushing towards the wrong place, but he immediately caught himself. _Don't go there, blood, don't go there. You'll be in trouble if she wakes up._ But wait a minute. How come he still had blood in his body? Didn't Orochimaru hit him with a sword? Didn't he lose a lot of blood? Why was he still alive?

Kakashi opened his eyes again, this time a lot more awake. He took a few deep breaths. He could still feel his sword wound, but it wasn't even that painful anymore. He put a couple fingers on his neck to feel his own pulse. His heartbeat was a little weaker than usual, but he was definitely not dying. He looked at Haruka's serene face. There was no question that she had saved him, but how? What did she have to go through in order to get his life back?

Kakashi's little movements had awaken Haruka. She slowly opened her eyes, until she remembered what happened before she passed out, and she frantically called out Kakashi's name.

"I'm here, sweetie, I'm here, and I'm ok." Kakashi patted her back consolingly.

Haruka looked at Kakashi's face in disbelief. "Kakashi… you're alive, you're alive… I can't believe it."

"You saved my life." Kakashi said gently. "How did you do that?"

Haruka looked down guiltily. "Well… I used a forbidden jutsu, and I thought that I would ended up killing us both." She explained the details of the jutsu to Kakashi. She expected Kakashi to get upset at her for risking both of their lives, but instead he just stroked her hair gently and said, "Well, I guess we're meant to be together, aren't we?" He then added. "Now that our blood has mixed, you have become a part of me, and I have become a part of you, we can never be separated again."

A blush rose on Haruka's cheeks as she smiled shyly, looking ever so beautiful even with all the dirt and dried blood on her face.

_Screw the romantic dinner and the walk in the woods. _ Kakashi told himself. _I'm kissing her right here, right now._

Haruka had removed his mask when she was treating him, so there was nothing beside air between their lips. Kakashi leaned forward towards Haruka. He could see her long eyelashes fluttered in anticipation. Having lived alone in the forest for most of her life, Haruka had never been kissed before. She could hear her own heart pounding as Kakashi leaned in closer and closer. She could almost feel his lips brushing ever so lightly against hers when she heard…

"Kakashi-sensei! Haruka nee-chan!" Running towards them was Konoha's number one loud and hyperactive ninja Uzumaki Naruto, led by Kakashi's ninken Pakkun and followed by a few other Konoha shinobi. "We finally found you! Are you ok? Where are Orochimaru and Kabuto? Did you kill them?"

Seeing how worried Naruto looked, Kakashi decided to forgive him one more time for interrupting such an important moment. He had already pulled up his mask, and he struggled to sit up with Haruka.

"We're fine." Kakashi quickly summarized what happened to his fellow ninja. "What about the other people? What happened at the fairground?"

"We have pretty much captured or killed all of the sound nins. The rebels have also captured Lord Yuuta. The rebel leader is now waiting for Haruka to return before they execute him." Asuma told them.

Haruka was excited to hear the news. "Let's go back then." She said eagerly.

The small group began their journey back to the fairground. Kakashi and Haruka were still so weak that they needed to be carried. They also checked the cliff and stopped by where Kabuto was before they left. The spider monster was killed, but both Orochimaru and Kabuto had disappeared.

The sun was already set when the group made it back to the fairground. Shou was very happy to see Haruka return. He hugged her for a very long time.

Finally he released her and said, "Shiori, are you ready to avenge our parents?" Haruka nodded. Shou led her by her hand to where they kept Lord Yuuta. The monarch began to shake when he saw the siblings. "Please don't kill me." He pleaded. "I'll give you back the country… I'll give you anything. Please don't kill me."

Shou and Haruka did not even acknowledge his plea. Shou put a sword into Haruka's hand, and he put his hand over hers. Together, they sent the sword into the chest of the monster who murdered their parents, and drew a conclusion to the monarchy that made the entire country suffer for twelve long years.


	15. Epilogue The journey home

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

A/N: Yes! We're finally done! I'd like to thank all of you for following the story and submitting the reviews. It really means a lot to me to know that there are people out there who enjoy reading my story. I hope you like the ending!

Epilogue: The journey home

It was always hard to say goodbye, especially for two siblings who had just reunited after losing touch with each other for twelve long years.

"But… that's ok. I'm glad that you and your friends stayed for the coronation ceremony." Shou gently caressed Haruka's hair as he said. "I understand that the hidden village of Konoha and the people there mean a lot to you. I just want you to be happy."

"Onii-sama, I promise you that I will come back and visit a lot." Haruka said eagerly. "I have already thought of ways to improve the medical system in the country. We especially need to set up emergency medical support for our miners. Also, we need to build medical schools to train new doctors, and we have to…"

Shou smiled and nodded as he listened to all of his baby sister's great ideas. When Haruka finished, Shou walked up to Kakashi and shook his hand.

"I would like to thank you and your comrades for everything you have done for our country. We would not be here today without you." Shou paused, then he leaned towards Kakashi and whispered. "And you are a very lucky man. I would have stolen Shiori from you if she weren't my sister."

All Kakashi could do was rub the back of his head and laugh.

"Also, you listen." Shou changed to a threatening tone. "If you mistreat Shiori in any way, I will send a whole troop to Konoha and beat you up. You'd better be good to her."

Kakashi looked at his future brother-in-law sincerely and said, "Shou-sama, please trust that I love your sister more than I love myself. I promise you I will protect her with my life. I won't ever let anything happen to her."

Shou relaxed into a smile after hearing Kakashi's promise, and the two men hugged.

Haruka then said goodbye to Kenji and all the people she knew. "I will be back soon." She promised everyone as they waved their beloved princess goodbye.

Finally, the Konoha shinobi began their journey home. They had decided to take it easy, especially since many of them still sustained injuries from the battle. Everyone was walking leisurely, enjoying the warm sun and the scenery around them.

Kakashi and Haruka were walking at the back of the group, simply enjoying each other's company.

"What did onii-sama say to you when we left?" Haruka asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing." Kakashi decided to tease her a bit. He loved watching her getting all flustered. "He said you're just a baby and I need to take good care of you. That's it."

Haruka's jaw dropped upon hearing that. "I'm not a baby at all!" She protested.

"Oh of course you are. You have never kissed a boy before, have you?" Kakashi continued to tease her.

How dare he used that against her! Haruka pouted. She needed to get back at him somehow. She slowly gathered some chakra into her hand. This operation required her super human speed and precise chakra control. She had to be careful.

When she had gathered enough chakra in her hand, Haruka quickly reached out and pulled down Kakashi's mask, then she stood on her toes and pressed her lips heavily against his.

Never kissed a boy before huh? She would change the fact right now so that he could never use that to tease her again.

It took Kakashi a moment to comprehend the situation. He couldn't believe she was the one who kissed him first and not the other way round, but, ah well, he couldn't really complain about it. For the moment, Kakashi let himself forget about everything else and just focused on the kiss.

He first let their lips warmed up to each other's presence, then he brushed his tongue ever so lightly against her lips and her teeth, begging for the entrance. He could feel her body tense up when their tongues met. He gently explored the inside of her mouth with his tongue, and he encouraged her to do the same.

They finally broke for air after a long while. Haruka looked at Kakashi with her starry eyes. "That was… amazing." She said breathlessly. "YOU, are amazing." Kakashi corrected her.

Haruka smiled and looked away shyly. Suddenly she realized that everyone in their group had stopped walking to watch them. She quickly buried her face in the nape of Kakashi's neck in embarrassment. "Kakashi… they are all watching us." She whispered.

Kakashi laughed and pulled up his mask. He grabbed Haruka's hand and walked past everyone to the front of the group. "What are you slackers all standing around for? Let's hurry and go home!"

Haruka smiled when she heard the word "home". Yes, they were going home, to a beautiful place called Konoha, where she and Kakashi would continue to star in one exciting story after another.

THE END


End file.
